The Venerable House of Le-Fay
by Apparuerit Diabolo et Loqui
Summary: Athena Potter undertakes an Inheritance Test in Gringotts on her eleventh birthday, leading to her being proclaimed Lady Le-Fay. Watch as Athena becomes the third face in the second war. Fem!HP/GW, Femslash, Slytherin Fem!Harry and Ginny, some Ron and Molly bashing, Dumbledore is a MOB, the Ministry is corrupt and must be destroyed.
1. The Goddess of War and Wisdom

**Welcome to my 'baby', the fic I've spent about six months planning. Sorry I haven't updated anything else but for some reason I've had no drive to write during my summer holidays.  
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**This fic is inspired by ****_Raven Potter and the Plot for World Domination_**** by ****_Hane no Zaia_****. ****_The _****_Venerable House of Le-Fay_**** was originally my attempt to create a slightly more serious story based off this fic but it very quickly diverged leaving only Fem!Harry being a descendent of Morgana Le-Fay and Fem!Harry being a Slytherin. **

**To expand on what was written in the blurb; this will be Fem!HP/GW, both will be Slytherin, Dumbledore isn't evil per say just misguided, unrealistic in his views and manipulative, Molly Weasley and Ron Weasley aren't nice people and this story will truly earn it's M rating by the end.**

**Expect horrific violence, swearing, mentions of and attempted rape, some sexual scenes but I won't be writing actual sex scenes as I'm not comfortable writing young teenagers having sex, and many morally ambiguous actions.**

**The Athena (Fem!Harry) isn't evil, she is a good person who understands what needs to be done in war so she won't be pussyfooting around.**

**There is a rather significant author's note at the bottom I suggest you read before reviewing.**

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**The Venerable House of Le-Fay**

**Chapter One:**

**The Goddess of War and Wisdom.**

Athena Lily Potter – the Girl-Who-Lived, an unusually small girl with messy raven coloured hair and distinctive emerald eyes – walked out of the long hallway that led to the Goblin carts behind the towering figure of Hagrid. She had just seen her vault for the first time. When she had gone to fill up several extra bags of gold Galleons Hagrid had stopped her telling her the money needed to last as it was what her parents had left her. Despite Hagrid's comments she had filled every spare pocket she had anyway. And then there was that _mysterious_ package in vault Seven-Hundred and Thirteen…

As she headed towards a teller to convert some of her money to Pounds she thought of Uncle Vernon's constant comments of how her parents were no-good penniless drunks and that she as a result was equally as worthless – only fit to serve and clean for her betters. The vault proved otherwise – not that she'd ever tell Vernon that as she might have an 'accident' because Uncle Vernon would expect Aunt Petunia as the closest living relative to inherit all of the money.

Heading towards the teller however, Athena was intercepted by another goblin.

"Ms Potter?" he – as Athena presumed the goblin was a male – asked.

"Uh – yes?" she replied.

"Your account manager would like a word with you," the goblin replied. "Preferably now if you have the time. There some things of great importance we must discuss."

Before Athena could respond Hagrid started talking very loudly – almost shouting.

"Very busy today Athena, lots of things ter do!" he started wildly and uncharacteristically. "Don't worry; yer accounts are in good 'ands!"

At that point Hagrid started half dragging and half pushing Athena out the front doors of the bank, so Athena very clearly looked towards the goblin that addressed her and gave him a sharp nod before disappearing from view.

"Athena, I think I'll have to get myself a pick-me-up down at the'h Cauldron," said Hagrid as he led her down the alley. "Those carts just don' do it fer me. Why don't yer go to _Madam Malkin's_ to get yer school robes?"

Athena hastily agreed as Hagrid wandered off before she simply turned around and headed back towards Gringotts. Going through the doors and under the chilling inscription detailing the fate that awaits thieves she sought out the goblin who had approached her; finding him manning a telling station. She waited patiently in line as the Goblin noticed her and very quickly shifted off his present customers to the other tellers.

"Ms Potter, I assume you're here about what I tried to discuss earlier?" he asked.

"Yes, I've managed to slip my handler for a short time – I have maybe… twenty minutes," replied Athena.

"That should be enough to some of the topic we wish to discuss with you; if you would follow me."

Athena followed the goblin through the maze of tunnels and offices quickly to find herself at a door marked 'Account Manager Goldhook'. The Teller who had led her knocked on the door and opened it for her when a guttural voice commanded her to enter.

"Ms Potter is here to see you, Account Manager," said the Teller as he directed Athena to a seat opposite the desk. "She has however explained she has little time."

With a short nod from the Account Manager the Teller left.

"Ms Potter," he started. "I am Goldhook, the Account Manager for the Potter Family accounts. It is one of the half a dozen accounts I manage."

At that Athena scrutinised the goblin very carefully. Either her accounts were significantly larger than she was led to believe or the goblin in front of her was being paid a pittance for his managing. Going by the somewhat lavish surroundings it was most likely the first rather than the latter.

"I take it I have more than what I saw in my vault – uh, Vault Six-Eight-Seven – then?" she asked carefully.

The goblin flipped through one of the many folders on his desk before settling on one page.

"Vault Six-Hundred and Eighty-Seven – Potter Family trust vault," he read. "Refilled to ten-thousand Galleons at the start of every financial year from Vault One-Hundred and Thirteen – the Potter Family Vault, upon you coming of age the vault is closed and the funds transferred back into the Potter Family Vault."

"I was led to believe by my – uh – _handler_ that my trust vault was my _only_ vault," said Athena delicately.

"Yes," replied the goblin as he thoughtfully scratch his chin. "It is clear you're aware that someone is trying to cover up your inheritance. Still, we're very pressed for time I take it?"

Athena nodded.

"Once you're able to slip your handler in a more permanent manner you will need to come back here – preferably today," continued the Goblin. "There are a great many things to discuss and I'm sure you have many questions – questions best answered when we aren't pressed for time.

Athena nodded in agreement at that.

"The Teller is outside the door and will lead you back to the main foyer," finished the goblin. "And don't forget today, else we will miss out on many opportunities."

With that a somewhat confused Athena made her way to Madam Malkin's.

o0o0o0o

Athena had entered Madam Malkin's – passing a sneering blond boy – only thirty seconds earlier than Hagrid who arrived and quizzed Athena on why she had only just entered Madam Malkin's. She easily passed it off as being distracted by all the sights in Diagon Alley – like many starry eyed children would be upon entering the magical world which Hagrid easily bought.

After purchasing her robes Hagrid led Athena to _Florean Fortescue's_, talking with her over some ice-cream.

"So ther's four houses at Hogwarts," he began. "Hufflepuff which some people say are a load o' duffers but are real'eh ther' just hard workers, Ravenclaw which is fer yer bookworms and brain'eh types, Slytherin fer yer ambitious sort – but yeh don' wanna go there; there's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't a Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."

Hagrid paused in time for Athena to nod very cautiously and slowly. When she didn't say anything on the matter Hagrid continued.

"And then ther's Gryffindor – that was my 'ouse – fer the brave and bold," finished Hagrid, clearly impressed with his old house.

Finishing their ice-cream Hagrid led Athena to the bookstore – _Flourish and Blotts_ – to purchase her schoolbooks. Once she had selected the books from the required book list she attempted to purchase books on other topics. Hagrid told her she didn't need books on magic outside of what was on the book list, he said no to books on magical politics and government, he said no to books on magical history deeming them 'not fer children' and said they covered 'unpleasant things no child should be burden'd with'. Hagrid final led the sullen Athena Potter out of the book store and offered to buy her an owl as a birthday present and quite possibly to cheer her up.

Fifteen minutes later they both walked out of _Eeylops Owl Emporium_, a Snowy Owl in tow before moving off to the Apothecary. Athena eyed the solid silver, gold and other exotic metal cauldrons; wondering what their purposes was before moving off and selecting the higher priced and much larger advanced potions tool-kit which Hagrid insisted she put back and select the basic model. Athena slipped the advanced kit back into the pile of goods while the proprietor watched silently when Hagrid's back was turned.

Finally Hagrid told Athena they were getting her wand next.

"Hagrid?" she asked. "You said Ollivander's is the only place to get wands, right? Is that because they're the only wand maker in Diagon Alley or is it because he's the best?"

Hagrid took a very long time to answer. He seemed to have never thought it through thoroughly.

"I heard there's a few 'ustom wander makers but they're might'eh expensive and rather shady."

Athena's trip to Ollivanders was interesting to say the least, more accurately would be plain creepy. She received a wand that was supposedly the sibling to Voldemort's wand and discovered Hagrid had his wand snaped. After hastily paying she left with Hagrid who led her back through the Leaky Cauldron and towards the tube station. After paying for a ticket and making sure she made it to the train station, Hagrid said his goodbyes and left. As soon as he was out of sight Athena once again turned around and walked out, abandoning her unused ticket in a passing bin and snuck back towards the Leaky Cauldron.

"Hello Tom," she said to the bartender as she walked in. "Is it possible for me to get a room?"

Tom eyed Athena suspiciously; she was awfully young to be staying alone. After several seconds he must have decided he could keep an eye on her and keep her safe.

"That I can do Ms Potter," he said as he pulled a key from under the counter. "Would you like meals included for your stay? We can provide dinner and breakfast if you'd like."

Athena accepted the offer of breakfast and dinner before paying of just a single night. She had no intention of telling Tom she intended to stay until September first by paying everything upfront now. She would pay by day.

Tom helped Athena carry all of her school supplied upstairs before she locked the door to her room and proceeded to Gringotts; past the dwindling lines of shoppers as the day drew to a close.

Taking a leisurely stroll – no longer encumbered by the weight of her procurements – she thought on the character of Hagrid. He didn't _seem_ like an untrustworthy figure – more naïve than untrustworthy – like someone easily manipulated. On the other hand he may just be an amazing actor; pulling off the 'bumbling idiot' persona to lull her into a false sense of security.

Hagrid's attempts to keep her away from most of the information seemed genuine to her; possibly someone had convinced Hagrid that she didn't need to know such things and Hagrid genuinely believed it. It wouldn't be hard to convince someone that child does not need to know anything of war and the treachery of politics. The way Hagrid reacted to the message from her account manager though was a bit odd – too _extreme_ – she thought. Athena pushed the thoughts away for now though as she climbed the marble steps of Gingotts.

o0o0o0o

"It is good to see you visited us _today_, Ms Potter," said Goldhook, her account manager as she took a seat opposite.

"I am still curious as to why today of all days is important, Account Manager," asked Athena respectfully. "What is so special about my eleventh birthday to your bank?"

"You taking an Inheritance Test is what's important on your eleventh birthday," he replied carefully. "Assuming you consent that is."

"What's in it for me?" asked Athena after some consideration. "More so; why would you offer me this?"

The goblin gave Athena a small toothy grin. He liked a human who was discerning; wanting to know the motives of a bank to offer an Inheritance Test.

"An inheritance test would allow you to lay claim to previously thought extinct families you are possibly descendant from; that includes their money, land and titles," he replied smoothly. "As for why we would offer this: it makes us money. Money locked up in unclaimed vaults doesn't make more money – we can't invest it and get a cut of the profits."

Athena returned the goblins smile.

"Good answer," she replied. "I will – assuming the price is reasonable."

"It's of no charge actually," responded the goblin to Athena's surprise. "History has shown us that performing these tests nearly every time pays for itself many-many times over. It would be unfortunate after all if a pauper who could not afford an inheritance test could subsequently not lay claim to a significant fortune. Would it not?"

"It would," she agreed. "Well – for your coffers at least."

Goldhook gave Athena a laugh at that.

"Yes, the coffers would feel it."

"So, how do I do this?" asked Athena. "What's involved?"

Goldhook got up and motioned Athena to follow, drawing attention to what looked like a heavily built wooden table in the corner of his office. Next to the large table was a smaller table where a small gold cauldron sat. Upon close inspection, Athena saw that the heavier table actually had a very shallow stone basin for a top, bordered with wooden trim. Inside the basin sat a very large piece of parchment several feet long on each side along with a much smaller scroll of parchment sitting in the centre.

"The test is quite simple," explained the goblin. "First you need to add your blood to the potion until its colour changes to pitch black colour –"

At this Athena peered over the top of the small gold cauldron and saw it contained a perfectly clear liquid she would probably have mistaken for water.

"– once it has done so you will need to pour the potion onto the two pieces of parchment provided – don't worry; the cauldron is cold. The larger one will show your family tree – how far back depends on several factors but it will run out of space on the parchment at about forty generations. The smaller scroll will list every magical family you are descendant from in order how many generations ago it was while marking which families are headless and could possibly be claimed – possibly as you will be incapable of claiming some families due to your gender."

"Uh – how much blood will it take for the potion to change colour?"

"Depends on the person," replied Goldhook. "Usually it requires several ounces."

Athena wasn't sure how much an ounce was as they hadn't taught imperial measurements at school in many years. She thought it was probably less than the shot of spirits that Uncle Vernon would sometimes demand.

"The blade is enchanted so your wound will heal after use," added Goldhook as Athena thought.

"Right – uh – so do it now?" she asked.

"Yes, it needs to sit for several hours," he replied. "It will probably be done by the time we've finished discussing the Potter account."

Athena nodded before slicing open her left hand with a slight grimace; nothing worse than what she had experienced before and this would heal quickly. She held her hand over the cauldron and waited for it to change colour. It slowly started to turn red and as she began to think 'how much longer?' it turned from red to black very suddenly. Goldhook then offered Athena a piece of clean white cloth to hold onto the wound until the healing magic from the blade kicked in.

"It will have healed in a few minutes," he said before taking the cauldron and pouring it contents over the parchment.

o0o0o0o

Taking a seat, Athena still had one question on her mind.

"You still haven't explained why this could only be done today," she said, gesturing towards the Inheritance Test.

"Simple, there are only two times when it is legal for us to do an inheritance test; by going before the Wizengamot and asking if no one objects to the performing of a test – which there nearly always is, and on a person's eleventh birthday."

Athena's eyebrows met as she tried to figure out why. Unable to figure anything out with certainty she asked another question.

"And the Wizengamot is…?"

Goldhook looked at Athena and raised a single eyebrow before speaking.

"What have you been taught about the government?"

"I assume you mean magical government?" she replied to which Goldhook nodded. "Nothing; until last night I didn't even know about the magical world."

Goldhook grumbled in another language before recomposing himself at that answer.

"I see a long night ahead of me," he said with a sigh. "Let's see, we have the _Ministry of Magic_, which is the magical government for the United Kingdom. The Ministry is headed by the _Minister of Magic _who is elected by the magical humans of the UK. The laws the Ministry follows are made by the Wizengamot which is made up of the hereditary Heads of the 'Ancient' and 'Noble' houses, the Chief Warlock – who is the leader of the Wizengamot, the Minister of Magic and his or hers staff.

"Furthermore the Wizengamot also makes up the judicial branch of the Ministry; each year thirty-six members are selected to act as the jury during legal proceedings. Depending on the severity of the case there may be anything from three to the full thirty-six of them in attendance. During a trial either the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the Minister or the Chief Warlock may act as judges – or in some cases all three."

Athena gave Goldhook a slow nod as she processed all this.

"You said '_hereditary Heads' _and you mentioned the inheritance of titles," mused Athena. "Is it possible I may gain a title from this inheritance test?"

"You already have one," replied the goblin. "Normally the Noble and Ancient House of Potter is patriarchal, but per the House Potter Charter if there is no living Potter males the headship falls to the eldest female Potter – that would be you. Once again, per the charter, you can take headship at seventeen. But yes, you could gain more."

"I think the first thing I do tomorrow should be to buy quite a few books on these topics, I'm clearly at a disadvantage here growing up in the muggle world," she said before continuing. "So, the government is run by group of hereditary seats, I assume an inheritance test is the only easy was to prove you have a right to those seats besides the obvious of being born into them –"

Goldhook gave a nod at that.

"– so by restricting it they stop people from weakening their powerbase," she finished. "But why do they allow it to be done at all?"

"Simple, sometime people want to prove someone is their child and thus worthy of having the title passed to them. They _could_ go through the Wizengamot to do so but then everyone would know you're having doubts about the legitimacy of your child and thus create a scandal so they allow one very narrow window in a lifetime that avoids the public spectacle. Even then some hesitate to prove it as it may prove their own illegitimacy."

Athena made a pondering 'hmm' sound and nodded.

"Still, I digress; we should be getting onto the discussion of the Potter Accounts of which you are the heiress."

o0o0o0o

"So in summary the Potter Accounts have a total of four-hundred and fifty-six thousand galleons in liquid assets, two-hundred and twenty thousand galleons in muggle and magical commercial property generating a seven percent return per year and seventy-five thousand galleons in muggle stocks generating a twenty-one percent return giving a total value of seven-hundred and fifty-one thousand galleons which made thirty-one thousand galleons last financial year."

"So how much is that in pounds?" asked Athena after Goldhook explained everything in the Potter portfolio.

"At the moment it is twenty-one point three pounds to the galleon," he said before tapping on what Athena presumed was some sort of ancient mechanical typewriter. "Just a shy under sixteen million pounds."

Athena did her best to hide her surprise at that.

"It was significantly more at one point and nearly all the liquid assets came from the profits generated since the death of your parents – normally they would be reinvested back into property or shares to generate more money," he continued. "As for the more part, your father made some significant donations to fund the war effort during the war; in the range of three-quarters of a million galleons."

"Can we put that money to use now?"

The goblins gave a slight frown.

"No we cannot," he replied. "As I've mentioned, each family has a charter – bylaws for that house if you will – that regulate things like inheritance of titles, rights of family members and such. The Potter Charter means that though you are the heiress, you can't claim the title of head until you are seventeen and that you can't have any control over the financial affairs of the House until you are thirteen – and even then it is under the guidance of your guardian and myself. Some families on the other hand may set those ages higher, lower or not at all."

Athena grumbled slightly at such a waste before Goldhook continued.

"Attached to the Potter Family is three properties; The former site of Potter Manor which was destroyed in the last war, a small island in Bermuda which includes a small holiday home and a home in Godrics Hollow which was seized by the Ministry and turned into a monument following your parents death – putting it in a legal grey area as they may not have had the right to do so."

"Hmm – how long do you think the Inheritance Test has left?" she asked, avoiding the area of law.

"Perhaps thirty minutes," he replied.

"Do you know any way to magically control someone?" she asked. "I think much of Hagrid's concerns today regarding what I could buy were genuine in his mind – though it wouldn't be hard to convince him so – but the scene in the lobby was peculiar even for him."

Goldhook scratched his chin in thought for several seconds before he replied.

"There are many – some more illegal than others – but going by what I assume were sudden personality changes it would have been a compulsion charm. It would be a safe guess that whoever laid the charm also convinced Hagrid to limit what you could purchase," he explained. "I assume what was restricted was books, was it not?"

Athena nodded.

"Do purchase them anyway, you will need the knowledge, and there was probably a very good reason – not for you that is – as to why someone wants you ignorant."

o0o0o0o

Athena and Goldhook spent the remaining thirty minutes discussing the magical government, focussing particularly on goblins and their standing with the Ministry – a topic Athena found interesting. Athena found the goblin's interest in discussing things other than business with her surprising; Hagrid's comments gave her the impression they were very guff and unpleasant fellows only interested in money. He was probably right about the money part but she just assumed that Goldhook had good foresight and saw that having someone with fame and wealth on their side was a good thing. Athena decided to research the wizard side of the argument first though before picking a side as it were.

"Family tree or inheritance list first?" asked Goldhook as he carried the scroll and larger sheet of parchment to the desk.

"Tree, I think," she replied.

Goldhook laid the large parchment down on the table and joined Athena on the same side.

Looking at the tree it was far from the neatness she had envisioned. The names and lines sprawled across the parchment like a spider's web with her name, Athena Lily Potter, connected to 'James Potter' and 'Lily Potter née Evans' at the very bottom.

"Impressive," commented the goblin. "Your tree is unusually strong. Rarely does a tree go back the full forty generations."

"What stops it from doing so?" asked Athena.

"If you were magically very poor that would do it, but inbreeding is the usual cause," he replied. "You can see some signs of it here looking at some distant relatives on your father's side."

As he said, there were a few lines that simply faded and vanished on the parchment but thankfully they were few and far between.

"The double lines indicate a magical descendent, the single line indicated dormant magic – which is where muggleborns such as your mother usually get magic from, while the single dotted lines indicate someone with no magic in their blood. You will see some listings of siblings on the tree you are not descended from – normally the tree is incapable of detecting siblings except in cases of twins or triplets because they usually share a special magical bond.

Athena decided to inspect the tree and find where her mother's magic came from, landing on a branch of the tree that very quickly faded due to some horrific inbreeding which ended in a non-magical child. She could trace the line all the way down to her through her mother's mother.

"So, the scroll then? I figure I shall pursue this later when I'm no longer consuming your time."

Goldhook nodded and broke the seal on the scroll, letting it unroll under its own weight and roll down to the floor, surprising Athena with it length.

"Let's see…" muttered the goblin as he inspected the list. "Of course we have Potter at the top of the list, House Black – two generations ago – which you can't claim unless you were named heir by the previous Head Black, Bulstrode which currently has a head as does Flint.

Goldhook keep muttering before gasping slightly in shock and nearly dropping the offending scroll. Athena simply raised a questioning eyebrow.

"The Most Ancient House of Gaunt," he muttered. "That is most unusual. I would recommend keeping that to yourself; the Gaunts were a very unpleasant family whose last named member died in Azkaban about forty years back. They were said to be descendants of Slytherin."

"As in Hogwarts Slytherin?" asked Athena.

"Yes… I must ask; are you a Parcel – I mean to say, can you talk to snakes?"

Athena quickly schooled her features from shock at that question.

"Yes."

"It is most likely true then that they are descended from Slytherin – legend has it that Parceltounge was a gift he had," he replied carefully. "I would suggest keeping that quiet, myself; many would view you with suspicion at that. Being a Parceltounge – that is someone who can talk to snakes – is viewed as dark by many less enlightened."

Athena nodded in agreement at that; another thing to research before Goldhook began to inspect the family tree.

"There we are," he said as his finger traced a line. "Eleven generations ago; Maia Gaunt, daughter of Taygete and Iners Gaunt – who happened to be uncle and niece – married a muggle. Most likely she was a squib and thus fled from her family for her life."

"Oh," was all Athena said before remembering the task at hand. "Is there a title I can claim then?"

"Claiming the Gaunt title would be pointless," he explained. "The family is bankrupt – several million galleons that is – and thus is unable to sit on the Wizengamot until their debts are repaid. That is ignoring of course that the family is purely patriarchal. You also can't claim the Slytherin title as the four founders consolidated their seats into one Hogwarts seat in exchange for certain rights and autonomy for Hogwarts. The Hogwarts seat is sat in by the Headmaster of the school."

Goldhook continued to examine the parchment, occasionally muttering about seats that Athena was unable to claim for various reasons before gasping again; this time louder.

"The Venerable House of Le-Fay," he said.

o0o0o0o

"As in Morgana Le-Fay?" asked Athena with a questioning look. "Enemy of Merlin? Wait, so Merlin is real too?"

"Yes, yes and yes," replied Goldhook. "Many of the muggle myths are actually true; we have documentable evidence of them. The existence of the Le-Fay Seat on the Wizengamot and the vault are just two of many."

"Oh, so I can just sign a few forms and I can claim this title?" asked Athena sceptically.

"Unusually, yes," began the goblin thoughtfully, choosing his words. "Normally – for most houses that is – if you wanted to claim an unclaimed and thought to be extinct headship you would need to put out a call for other claimants – usually it's about thirty-one days. During that time anyone else who thinks – or more accurately just anyone who has an inkling of a thought they just _might_ be a descendant – can come into Gringotts and test themselves against the Chief Claimant. Now, as they can't do an Inheritance Test they instead test their blood against the Chief Claimant and if their blood is found to have a more superior claim than the Chief Claimant they become the new Chief Claimant who has to defend their right to the headship against other claimants until the thirty-one day period expires.

"The reason for this all boils down to one line in nearly every House Charter stipulating that the headship belongs to the eldest child – usually male – of the primary line, which is accompanied by another line passing over headship if the heir is incapacitated or unable to be found."

"But this doesn't apply to the House of Le-Fay?"

"No it does not," he replied. "The House of Le-Fay has always operated in the shadows – ever since Morgana Le-Fay was branded a dark witch all those years ago – so they have sought secrecy and anonymity. They sent their children to Hogwarts under different names, voted on their Wizengamot seat through proxies or shrouded and cloaked, and never publicly identified themselves – to do so would arouse suspicion and mistrust around them.

"That was until in the late fourteen-hundreds when a new Dark Lord – or more correctly _Lady _– emerged calling herself Morgana Le-Fay – after her ancestor – and attempted to overthrow the Wizards Council; which was the predecessor to the Ministry. The whole family was thought to have been wiped out and no-one has claimed the seat since.

"But I digress; the House of Le-Fay, seeking to stay out of the public eye allows _any_ female descendant to claim the headship when no female who was born a Le-Fay exists. As you are the first no one can contest it and no calls are required to be made for other claimants."

"Wow," was all Athena could say. "Uh – ok – what do I need to do?"

"Simple, all you have to do is sign a few forms," he replied with a grin.

Athena carefully read of the half-a-dozen pages to confirm the documents were indeed what Goldhook said they were. As much as she hated her despicable uncle, he was probably correct about reading contracts carefully and not to trust bankers.

As she read another question came to mind.

"The house isn't in debt, is it? I won't have to pay off debts if I claim it, will I?"

"Good question," said Goldhook. "The House is not, but you would have been responsible for the debt if there was any and you signed."

Finding the documents in order and her question satisfied she looked across Goldhook's desk seeking a pen to sign with.

"You will have to sign with this quill, I'm afraid," he said as he handed over a black, almost metallic looking quill. "This is a _Blood Quill_, as the name implies it uses the writer's blood as ink. They are commonly used on significant legal documents. The idea is that if you are under magical compulsion such as the _Imperius Curse _– which is an enslaving curse, or potions designed to make one susceptible to others influence it would be detectable on your blood and thus you could dispute the validity of the contract. This is because there is a clear magical difference between _willingly_ and _unwillingly_ given blood."

Athena examined the quill for a few seconds confirming it was actually made of metal, surprisingly heavy and that it was razor sharp before proceeding to sign the documents.

Signing the first page resulted in a sharp pain on the back of Athena's right hand which suddenly vanished, leaving a very faint red line on the back of her hand which spelled out her name.

"It won't scar, if you're worried," he said as he noticed Athena examining her hand. "The quill is charmed to heal any wound it causes and prevent any scaring; it would take quite a significant amount of use to overcome those charms."

Athena nodded and proceeded to sign the rest of the document; each page requiring a signature.

"Let me be the first to congratulate you, Lady Le-Fay," said Goldhook with what Athena assumed was a smile.

"Uh – thanks," she replied slightly more weakly than normal.

"Now, let me send for the Le-Fay portfolio," he said as he taped a few runes on his desk. "It is safe to assume the vault has not been inventoried since the death of the previous Lady Le-Fay and more likely a lot earlier than that so I will only be able to give you an accurate description on the gold content of the vault – it is unlikely any shares or companies the House owns still exist."

At that moment a younger goblin can in and discussed something with Goldhook. Athena thought she heard the name Le-Fay a few times and presumed the goblin was retrieving the documents pertaining to the house.

"It may take a while to retrieve the documents from the archive," said Goldhook as the younger goblin left. "So I think we should discuss the rest of the list."

"There's more?" asked Athena with slight surprise.

"No more families that you can claim I'm afraid; there are two here that are patriarchal, so I suggest coming in her on your son's eleventh birthday so he can claim it," replied Goldhook with sadness that he couldn't open any more old family vaults. "But there are twenty-three personal vaults unclaimed. As they're not houses with charters they revert to Gringott's rules for inheritance; which means if the owner is dead and no-one claims it after fifty years, then any relative can claim them."

"So what's in them?" she asked.

"Money," he replied simply. "I've asked Bladeclaw to collect the documents pertaining to these vaults as well so we can find out exactly. There are also probably some artefacts in some of the vaults but it will mostly be money."

"What sort of artefacts can I be expecting to find in these vaults?" she asked curiously.

"Weddings rings, family wands and books are some of the more common items we find. But we do occasionally find a few very nasty things too; things like cursed jewellery and weapons, body parts for use in potions and various 'dark' artefacts."

"Is it possible for me to hire someone to inspect them? I would like to avoid being cursed if I can help it," countered Athena dryly.

"That can be done," he replied. "Might I suggest you merge the vaults into one and have them inventoried?"

"That sounds like it could work."

o0o0o0o

"Let's see," said Goldhook as he examined the stack of thin folders. "I think we should sign over the personal vaults first, merge them and arrange an inventory for them before we deal with the Le-Fay account."

Athena didn't object assuming the goblin probably knew the paperwork best.

Working out a system; Goldhook would copy over the particulars from the files to the acquisition papers and Athena would subsequently sign them. Twenty three forms later and a rather sore hand meant that Athena now had sixty-two thousand galleons if free cash.

"I should invest it I think," she said as she looked the new folder over.

"I would suggest waiting until after we discuss the Le-Fay portfolio; you may end up merging them," he said to which Athena nodded. "Good, let's see. "One-hundred and eighteen-thousand galleons in gold and one-hundred and twenty-thousand galleons in defunct companies – that's a total write-off. You also own a large parcel of land that was once home to Le-Fay castle until it's destruction in around six-hundred and fifty-eight and then it was home to Le-Fay manor which was abandoned and looted following the destruction of the family."

"How big is this property, and for that matter how big are Potter Island in Bermuda and the former location of Potter Manor?" asked Athena.

"Let's see…" he said as he flipped through the pages in the Le-Fay portfolio and then through the Potter portfolio. "The Le-Fay estate is approximately eight-thousand acres of land located in the High Peak Forest in Derbyshire, the former site of Potter Manor is approximately nine-hundred and fifty acres of land in Hampshire and the island owned by the Potters in Bermuda is approximately one-hundred and fifty acres of land."

"Not bad," muttered Athena as she thought. "Ok – move the contents of my newly acquired vaults into the Le-Fay vault, inventory the vault, mark which items are hazardous and move them into the old vault until I decide what to do with them."

"It will be difficult," said Goldhook after he pondered for a few seconds. "Family vaults are usually locked with blood. While we have our own special ways to remove gold from them we can't do anything else with them; we can't remove items and we can't inventory them unless you were to open it. It would then take several days to inventory the items and the vault which would remain open would require a round-the-clock guard. It's expensive."

"How much?" asked Athena with a sigh.

"About 45 galleons per day per guard, 25 galleons per day per goblin to inventory the vault, and consultation fees if something usual is found and needs inspecting."

"Don't you trust the layers of security that you need to go through to get to the vault to protect it while it's open for a few days?" asked Athena.

Goldhook scrutinised Athena before speaking carefully.

"Most humans don't trust us with unguarded access to their vaults and prefer to have some _human_ guards overseeing it."

"Oh," said Athena in comprehension. "Don't bother; you already said yourself that you can remove gold from my vaults, I don't see how the door being open changes anything."

Goldhook scribbled something down before proceeding.

"Very well," he said uneasily. "Is there anything else you wish to discuss? If not we can proceed down to the Le-Fay vault, get it open and begin the inventory right away."

"Yes, there is," she replied. "I was hoping you could recommend a lawyer? Maybe one who doesn't mind too much tutoring me on the Wizengamot while being able to perform any other legal function I require?"

"I can look into it. I should be able to send you a recommendation by tomorrow morning, Ms Potter."

o0o0o0o

Athena followed Goldhook out of the office and back towards the bank lobby, gathering several goblins along the way. Once in the lobby she found it empty bar two tellers counting money. Out the front door she could see it was beginning to get dark and reminded herself that Tom was probably keeping an eye on her and will expect her back.

"The bank is open at all hours of the day," said Goldhook as she gazed around the empty lobby. "Some creatures can only enter the bank at night and some simply prefer to do business at night."

Athena gave a silent slow nod and joined the congregation as they walked towards the carts; the group consisting of six goblins including Goldhook and Athena; requiring two carts to take them down into the lowest levels of the bank.

As the cart raced down deeper into the bank, long past the level where her trust vault resided, the air got colder and they passed many underground features like rivers and lakes before the cart came to a stop with a screech and a jet of sparks before a black forged iron door bearing the inscription of 'Le-Fay' and the number twenty-six in brazed green copper script.

Climbing out of the cart the goblins and single human gathered around the vault door. Athena noted the door wasn't very big – a slightly tall person would need to keep their head down less they strike their head.

"Ms Potter," said Goldhook as the goblins made a path between themselves allowing Athena to pass. "The vault requires a small amount of blood to gain entry."

Athena gave Goldhook a small nod. With the demonstration they could get lineage from blood it wasn't too surprising that blood would be used to gain entrance to her new vault.

"If you look closely you will see a small protrusion with a hole in the centre of it in the centre of the door," he said once he got the nod of understanding. "Placing your finger on this protrusion will automatically pierce your finger and draw blood. Simply smear it on the surface of the door and it will open.

Athena did as instructed. Placing a finger over the hole resulted in a click being heard as a small sharp pain was felt on her finger. She then haphazardly smeared it across the door surface which glowed briefly before the blood vanished into it surface. This was followed by a succession of clicking and clunking noises from behind the door as it unlocked before opening outward on its own with a loud groan that reverberated around the cave.

Taking a step back as not to be knocked over by the door, Athena gazed into her new vault; the place could only be described as a mess. Inside were haphazard piles of gold coins, gems, gold bullion, jewellery, weapons and armour scattered all over the vault. To Athena's thanks the vaults considerable collection of books were stacked over to once side though she wished they had been placed off the floor.

Following her heart she walked over to the books first, ignoring the other valuables in the vault.

"Ms Potter," called out one of the many goblins. "Please don't touch anything just yet. Anything in here – including the books – may be cursed. They could cause you considerable harm."

Giving a sigh she instead decided to look but not touch; finding many of the book titles to be languages other than English – possibly Welsh or Gaelic. A few of the titles however were in a slightly antiquated form of English but still readable.

Making up her mind she approached Goldhook who was watching over the other goblins.

"Goldhook, I think I'll go now," she said. "It's been a long day and though I lost my minders I suspect other may be keeping an eye out for me."

"Very well, Ms Potter, I'll have someone give you a ride up," he said.

"Thank you," she replied. "Is it possible you could have the books checked first? I think I have a more pressing need for them than everything else in here."

"It shall be done," he replied.

"Good, I'll probably be back tomorrow to discuss more things with you. I'm sure something slipped my mind with the massive overload of information."

* * *

**This story is AU, please get that into your heads when you read this. I don't want to hear reviews with people saying something is wrong/noncanon. For your convenience here is a list of things I changed and a number of clichés I will be avoiding:**

**-Many – if not most – of the dates have been moved forwards twenty years. Athena (Fem!Harry) was born on the 31st of July, 2000, Lily and James were born in 1980, etcetera. Older dates remain the same so Dumbledore is twenty years older as is Voldemort, Hagrid, McGonagal and such. I'm doing this mostly because I would like some modern day technology and events**

**-Athena is not simply a female version of Harry, she is very different. I'm trying desperately to avoid the 'abused and vulnerable Harry' cliché where Harry is incapable of believing someone could love him and thinks of himself a freak who breaks down and starters talking of the 'rules for freaks' which includes the rule about never telling anyone when confronted about it. Athena will be abused but instead of the aforementioned she will shine so to speak. She ****_knows _****that what the Dursleys do to her is wrong, she ****_knows_**** she is no freak and she ****_knows_**** the Dursleys are the real freaks here. She'll in some way be very much like Jennifer Potter/Black in ****Princess of the Blacks**** by ****_Silently Watching_**** except not a borderline sociopath. She's cunning, smart, a bit of a bookworm and knows what she wants – many of these skills were honed by years of abuse. She will have some classic abuse signs though like flinching at touch, general distrust of people etcetera but it won't be angsty.**

**-Assuming Hogwarts is the only magical school in Britain then a school population of three-hundred or so would mean that the total magical population is only around five to six thousand – assuming magical have on average unnaturally long lives. It's just not reasonable so I've increased the number of student by four, giving a school population of around twelve to fourteen hundred and a total magical population of about twenty-five thousand, add on ten to twenty percent of students being home or overseas schooled we get about thirty thousand magicals in Britain. Then I like to assume ****_at least_**** twenty-five percent of people – mostly muggleborn and half-bloods – fled Britain during the war, something most parents would do knowing their families are in danger. I then assume at least two thousand people died during the war, so pre-war populations are about forty thousand. For the most part I won't invent new characters to bump up the numbers, just assume they're there if it ever becomes plot relevant.**

**-The price of a galleon is about twenty to twenty-five pounds, pegged to the price of gold. I made it that a galleon weighs 1/12****th**** of an ounce and is 50% gold, 25% silver and 25% copper, and is a very small coin. Based on the price of the metals that would make it a bit under twenty pounds.**

**-Dumbledore's evil internal monologue – the classic scene in many MOB!Dumbledore fics where Dumbledore muses on how he will get Harry back under his thumb. When Dumbledore tries you won't get blatant forewarning.**

**-Goblins solve everything – a single visit to Gringotts in which Harry's parent's will is read proving Sirius is innocent, Dumbledore is cut off from the Potter fortune, a marriage contract (usually between Harry and Ginny) is invalidated, Dumbledore's guardianship is revoked, Dumbledore is arrested, tried and executed, and Harry discovers he's the heir to a dozen families? Nope.**

**Presumptively answering questions about this chapter:**

**-Why have I made it so difficult to take an inheritance test? Well, in other stories the main character simply has to stroll into Gringotts and get one, suddenly becoming heir to lots of families. I question this asking why no one else has done this. So this is my reason, those in power don't want to see any weakening of their powerbase.**

**-It's pretty common to see Harry being named the heir to a family. Every time I end up asking '****_how?'_**** How do they know he's the heir and not just a descendant? Nearly always this is never mentioned or it's brushed away with 'goblin magic'. In my story a call is instead made for other claimants.**

**-I always have trouble writing goblins. Half the time I want to make them stiff and grumpy with very little patience. Sometimes though I want to make them see Harry as a profitable enterprise.I'm still not very comfortable writing them**

**-It's pretty common in fanfic to see unbreakable contracts signed with blood. The idea that a piece of paper has the power to strip someone's magic or life seems a bit farfetched. There is nothing magically special about paper in canon so I like to think it lacks the magical power to perform such feats. Now, you can enchant it to perform simple hex's and curses, like that acne curse in book five from the DA contract and I imagine they could enchant it to inform Gringotts about contract breakers so they can automatically remove fines and such from vaults. Now the Goblet of Fire, I have some ideas about that which you will see in book five.**

**At this stage I'm still considering a few things and would like some feedback. Firstly; should I change the Tri-Wizard Tournament around? I was thinking different and more tasks. It's kind of boring reading a fanfic and knowing exactly what's going to happen in forth year. Secondly; should I move the horcruxes around? I'm going to keep the diary the same but should I move the others around? I can really see Tom storing a Horcrux in Egypt in an old tomb to be with the 'great Egyptian wizards of old' or something**

**Thanks for reading. Please review, favourite and follow.**

**A/N -1: Seriously? What sort of life do you have to spend your days complaining about a fanfic pairing? I'm talking about you sanbeegoldiewhitey**

**A/N - 2: I've decided to change the rating to T for now. It will go back to M when I have some M rated content in it. I fixed a few typos  
**

**A/N - 3: I rewrote the last section. I wrote the last bit rather sleep deprived and after reading it after a good night's sleep I hated it. The dragon felt like filler. Really it's a terrible security measure so I scrapped it and reserved it for idiotic purebloods who forget that all you need to get past the dragon is something that clanks**


	2. Bookworm

**Sorry this took so long.**

**I'd like to point out that I rewrote the last section of chapter 1. The changes don't change the plot it's just that I wasn't happy with it.**

* * *

**The Venerable House of Le-Fay**

**Chapter Two:**

**Bookworm**

Athena had trouble getting to sleep that night as she processed all of this new information. Despite the lack of sleep though her internal clock woke her up in the wee hours of the morning as she was expected at the Dursley's home to make them a significant breakfast.

Deciding she would not be able to get back to sleep she got up and changed into her clothes from the previous day, making a note to go shopping for some new casual clothes rather than castoffs. Taking a look in the mirror she changed plans and decided to do it first thing after breakfast rather than go to Gringotts and ask Goldhook a question that occurred to her in bed the night before.

Making her way downstairs to the bar she ordered her breakfast and ate it quietly in the darkest corner of the Cauldron she could find in an attempt to not be noticed by fans and admirers.

Having succeeded in having a peaceful and interruption free breakfast, Athena wrote a short list of the things she needed to do before she made her way out the door and into the muggle world for some casual clothes. Her experience from the previous day told her that casual clothes from _Madam Malkin's _meant plain robes of varying colours while many of the children and teenagers in the Alleyway had worn slightly outdated muggle fashions – a much more sensible choice.

Walking down a London street she sought out a suitable store while avoiding anything too upper market as they probably kick her out seeing her in her current rags – after all at this stage she only needed something her own size and casual rather than some formal wear.

Shopping only took her an hour to get a basic wardrobe but when she re-entered the Leaky Cauldron she found a surprised Tom behind the counter. Apparently he hadn't seen her leave so when she suddenly returned from the muggle world he berated her for being so reckless because apparently the muggle world is dangerous and Diagon Alley is not. Athena made a show to agree before making a mental note not to be spotted in future. Maybe there was another entrance to the Alley she could leave from?

o0o0o0o

Next on Athena's list of things to do were glasses; she had never had her prescription updated and had only once made the mistake of asking for new glasses. Now she had money though it seemed like a very reasonable investment to get a new pair or two.

To her surprise it seemed the magical world did have Optometrists and she wouldn't – at this stage – need to sneak out again. The place was somewhat tiny and clearly designed so only one or two people can get tested at once.

The Optometrist's was run by a young witch who looked to be in her late twenties. Athena could also see jeans and sneakers sticking out the bottom of her lime green robes.

"Hello, how can I help you Ms …?" she asked as Athena came through the door.

"Potter," she replied, glad she wasn't instantly recognisable with her hair covering the distinctive scar.

"Oh," she said mouth agape before she realised she hadn't said anything else. "Uh – I'm Katherine Logan, how can I help you today?"

"Ah, yes," replied Athena as she gave the woman a small smile. "I need a new prescription and glasses; they're somewhat out of date, or possibly there is some magical solution?"

"I'm sorry Ms Potter but there isn't any simple solution to improving eyesight through magic. The only thing I can think of is transfiguration of the eyeball – but that is only used in drastic cases for people with near blindness as it can only correct vision to the 'indistinguishable blobs' level," she explained. "I can however get you a new prescription for your eyes and we have a wide range of frames available. I can also add some simple enchantments like anti-scratch and anti-break."

Katherine proceeded to get Athena's eye tested while Athena thought it was a perfect time to do some fact finding.

"I'm rather new to Diagon Alley and when I was shown around I never got to go down a side street; can you tell me what's that all about?" asked Athena.

"Oh, well – there isn't really much down the side streets," she explained as she jotted down some numbers. "Of course there's Diagon Alley which is the _diagonal_ alleyway. Then on your left as you leave the Leaky Cauldron is _Market Way_ which sells mostly foodstuffs like groceries and has a few restaurants. At the very end of Market Way is _Thatching Street_ which connects to the far end of Diagon alley which is mostly homes though a lot of people who work in the Alley live above their shops."

"So the whole thing makes a triangle?" she asked.

"Uhh – yes, I believe it does."

"Thanks for the information," replied Athena before applying a false look of puzzlement. "Uh, what about the street on the right just before Gringotts?"

"Oh, that," she replied uneasily. "That's Knockturn Alley; best not be seen down there. There might be a few legitimate businesses down there but for the most part they're not."

"Oh, okay, thanks."

o0o0o0o

Leaving the optometrists after being told her old prescription could only be described as horrible and that her new new prescription would be ready tomorrow afternoon, Athena wondered how a street supposedly devoted to the dark arts could exist; if they sold large amounts of illegal items why hadn't the police – or the magical equivalent – shut them down?

Pondering this Athena made her way up the alley looking for a shop that would sell her a book bag – the sort she could use to carry books back and forth from her Gringotts vault. It didn't seem very wise to take all of her – probably valuable – books out of the vault at once and have them stolen.

Athena found a book bag in the shop that also sold trunks; it apparently was larger on the inside than the out.

"How much larger can you make it on the inside?" she asked as she paid for her purchase.

"Four, maybe five times?" suggested the aging craftsman. "Space expansion charms are rather fickly; the amount of power required to make and _maintain_ them increases faster than the volume. They also react poorly to some magical items."

"It will be safe for books, right?" asked Athena.

"Well it is a book bag," he replied as if it was obvious.

Leaving the store Athena headed up towards Gringotts not sure if her new books had been examined yet. The goblins had seemed rather eager to start digging through her vault so they may have worked through the night, or on the other hand she may have read them wrong and they liked working normal hours.

As she approached the bank she passed the infamous Knockturn Alley. Taking a look down she could see that some people were wearing hooded cloaks and moving very rapidly as if they didn't want to linger or be recognised while many others – some whom she assumed were incredibly well dressed – strolled down the alley as if they owned it.

Moving on Athena walked up the marble steps and into Gringotts.

o0o0o0o

The cart ride – like the four times before – was fast. Passing many heavy vault doors, an underground lake and a distant jet of flame the cart sharply ground to a halt in front of her vault with a spray of sparks.

When Athena had asked a teller if Goldhook was available she had been informed that he was down in the vaults. The way the teller said it suggested he was down in the Le-Fay vault and so she was thankful he didn't blurt it out aloud for everyone to hear – she had decided to stick by what _most_ of her Le-Fay ancestors had done and keep her mouth shut on the matter.

Entering the vault she found Goldhook recording the items in the vault in a large leather bound ledger. The vault also contained a noticeably larger amount of gold and other precious metals and stones.

"Ah! Ms Potter, how are you today?" he asked as he looked up from his work.

"I'm good, thanks," she replied before a thought occurred to her. "I have a question though…"

The goblin motioned to ask it.

"You only called me Lady Le-Fay once; why is that?"

Goldhook looked at Athena curiously for a moment before replying.

"It does slip my mind occasionally that you know very little of magical customs," he replied evenly. "Even the – uh – _most snobbish_ of wizards rarely use their titles; restricting their use to the most formal of occasions or when someone needs a good talking down too. I believe this stems from the very high ratio of magical lords and ladies to regular witches and wizards."

"Oh, okay," she replied in understanding.

"Yes; at their peak there were about three hundred lords and ladies to about fifteen to twenty thousand magicals. Showing the formalities to them would become very tiring and tedious if one in fifty people you met were one."

"That makes sense," replied Athena thoughtfully. "In the non-magical world I believe there are several hundred hereditary peers to fifty million odd people so they are a lot rarer."

Goldhook gave a nod at that.

"Still, that was only a question that just occurred to me," continued Athena. "I was hoping the books had been checked over."

"Ah – yes," he replied quite happily. "It is some collection if I say so myself; some of the books there had thought to have been lost to time and some appear to be journals – but not just any journals, some are dated from the late 400s AD meaning they may be the _First_ Lady Le-Fay's journals."

Athena's eyebrows shot up slightly at that.

"Wow," was all she said.

"Yes, 'wow'," replied Goldhook with a touch of amusement. "I had the books inventoried first and I have a copy of it here for you to pursue."

Taking the offered parchment Athena began to skim through it. The list included the book's name, the name translated into reasonably modern English – if applicable, the book's condition, estimated age and estimated value – though a large number had no estimated value.

Looking at the list Athena could see there were several hundred books that appeared to be journals and that the earliest dozen were dated in the late 400s and early 500s as Goldhook had stated.

"I take it the journals are not in English?" she asked.

"No, they are not," he replied. "The major language spoken at the time was Welsh with some Gaelic and Latin."

"What about these books with no value listed?" she asked.

"Those are the books which I cannot estimate accurately," he replied. "Some are the books that have thought to have been lost and many are private Le-Fay family books like the journals. Both would fetch a very hefty individually and with no precedent for their sales some could easily go into the high tens of thousands of galleons range – _each_."

Nodding as she went, Athena made her way over to the new shelves that now housed the books.

As she couldn't read any language other than English she skipped over the many journals as much as she wished she could dig into them and pursued the later books written in a slightly older form of English. Many of the names jumped out as words you might see in high-fantasy fiction at which Athena corrected herself seeing as she had now discovered she was a witch and was standing in a vault guarded by not so mythical goblins.

As she scanned the shelves she noticed that some of the books written in other languages had names that were similar to the English titles. They had the same number of words, same number of syllables and many of the sounds were similar to their English counterparts.

Checking the list Goldhook had given her she found that they were actually English translations of the older titles; having been translated from a variety of languages like Welsh, Gaelic, Latin and even Norse. This explained why they had similar sounding names seeing as English is descended from a number of languages including Welsh and Gaelic.

Not knowing anything about magic at this stage she chose a half a dozen or so books in English that included 'beginner', 'introduction', 'basic', 'novice' and the like in the title. The books covered a wide range of topics including magical theory, potions, rituals and warfare magic. When Goldhook saw her bag _Fundamentals of Ritual Magic_ he gave a sharp cough causing Athena to give him a pointed look.

"Yes?" she asked as politely as she could.

"I would suggest you don't attempt anything in that book without significant guidance," he said. "It would be slightly annoying to have to lock this vault back up again because the current Lady Le-Fay reduced herself to a puddle of ground blood, flesh and bone while attempting a reckless and harebrained ritual."

"Oh – well I don't intend to try anything in these books out," she replied after paling slightly at the results of a mucked up ritual. "I just want something to read. I really have no clue about magic right now or the _types_ of magic that exist. A little book that lists every field of magic and a description of it would be nice."

"So you intend to read broadly?"

"I would say so, yes," she replied before further explaining. "I didn't grow up in the magical world so I have quite the information deficit that many children who grew up magical don't have."

"True," he said with a sharp nod.

"Which lead to another question," she continued as she finished packing away her chosen books. "Does Gringotts offer a consultancy service?"

"Consultancy service?" he asked as he thought. "We don't have consultants' per-say in the muggle sense; rather we have _finders_ who track down people and items for customers. If you need an expert in something for example they would track down someone with the credentials or if you needed a rare book or item they would source it for you."

"That sounds about right," said Athena. "So Gringotts offers the service?"

"We do. Maybe it's best we head back up to my office; we need to discuss some things about the Le-Fay account anyway."

o0o0o0o

"So, last night all of the money from your new vaults was moved into the Le-Fay Vault," started Goldhook after Athena had taken a seat in his office. "This gives you a total of one-hundred and eighty thousand Galleons in free cash. I would recommend you invest it but before we do that I would like to get an idea as to what you wish to sell. If we exclude the priceless books in your collection we could easily have possibly two hundred thousand galleons worth of items."

"I won't be selling any of the books," said Athena firmly. "Unless there are duplicates at which I'll keep the copy in better condition."

"Very well," replied Goldhook. "Would you like Gringotts to organise the sale of these items?"

Athena considered this. On one hand she had no idea how to sell any of these items – she simply lacked the connections needed, on the other hand the goblins might rip her off.

"I'll have to see a list of items first I think," she said as a delaying tactic. "I may sell some myself and ask Gringotts to sell the rest – I'm not sure at this point."

"I can get you a list in two or three days."

Athena nodded as the goblin continued.

"Do you have any ideas on how you would like to invest this money?"

"I'll let you invest it at your discretion," she answered thoughtfully as she had no experience in the matter.

"Understood," replied Goldhook as he jotted down a note. "High risk, medium risk, or low risk investments?"

"Uh," she said as she thought it over for a few seconds. "I take it property is low risk and shares are high risk?"

"They are for the most part – though there are very low risk shares like those in property investment companies."

"I guess split it like the Potter Portfolio; a quarter on high risk, three quarters on low risk like property – it seemed to work okay for them for a long time."

"Very well, I'll start buying up shares as soon as we've got a rough estimate on how much we can work with."

Athena gave Goldhook a nod at that.

"So, you wished to discuss our Finders' Service?" he asked now the business of the vault was out of the way.

"Yes, I expect to use it a lot in the future," she said. "I like book and now that I'm reasonably wealthy I think I'll have to hire someone to track down rare books – but not right now. The more pressing issue is I think I'll need a tutor; someone who can tutor me in the magical world."

"That is understandable," he said with a nod.

"Also, I don't need them right now," she continued. "I will try to get by with some books but I would like one lined up so if I decided I need one I can arrange it quickly."

"Very well," replied Goldhook as he jotted down more notes.

"Hmm," hummed Athena as she thought. "As it's my money can you try to find someone who's not a snob who will demand etiquette and such? I'd just like the barebones navigating the magical world and politics."

"Politics?" said Goldhook with a little surprise as he added it to the list as well.

"Oh, I thought I mentioned that too," replied Athena apologetically. "It must have slipped my mind. But yes, I need to learn how to use my two Wizengamot seats."

"Anything else to add before I pass this onto Finders'?" he asked.

"Right now I just need a crash course in magical life. The person you find really just needs to be a normal magical that can run me through normal magical things with some political experience."

o0o0o0o

After confirming that Athena wanted Gringotts to find a normal magical with political experience that was quote '_not a snob'_ Goldhook finished the meeting so Athena left the bank and headed towards _Flourish and Blotts_.

Inside she found a rather significant deficit of books on magical customs and politics. The book – as opposed to _books_ – on magical customs was a novella sized manual written in an incredibly condescending tone while the only books found on politics were a book written in the style of a manual on protocols of the Wizengamot and a book on politics for aspiring Ministry of Magic employees.

Deciding the book on magical customs was still slightly useful despite its tone and size, and that Wizengamot protocol manual would come in handy in the future despite being the definition of dry she added them to her basket and moved onto other topics.

Deciding to compare her antique books with more modern text she searched out the section of rituals before giving up after checking every row. She was just about to ask the staff when she stopped herself and considered the matter; she didn't know _anything_ right now about the magical world. It was entirely possible that the topic was 'dark' magic as Hagrid had put it the day before – forbidden knowledge. She didn't need a text on the topic right now; she just wanted something to read so it wasn't worth the risk asking about it.

Moving on, Athena tried to track down the section on combative magic; once again no such section existed. Searching she found the closest approximation was _Defence Against the Dark Arts_ which she vaguely recalled was taught at Hogwarts – by that purple turban wearing man if she wasn't mistaken.

Ignoring the thought she skimmed the titles and found a very small selection of the books had titles similar to _The Arte of Combative Magick._ For the most part though the shelves were filled with books on what appeared to be rather innocuous magic like jinxes that caused your shoelaces to become tied together, broke you out in laughter or stinged you.

Coming to the conclusion her aging book probably wasn't anywhere near as innocent as the titles on the shelves she grabbed a few of the wordier titles and moved onto the sections for magical theory and potions. Finding they weren't so watered down she grabbed the introductory equivalents – surprisingly there wasn't an introduction to potions of the Hogwarts book list – and added them to her basket, before grabbing a few history books that took her fancy.

Book shopping done she paid for her books and retreated to the sanctuary of her room at the Leaky Cauldron to finally dig into them.

o0o0o0o

Starting with the school booklist Athena began to skim her books. She chose to initially skim rather than read as it would enable her to get over all of it quickly so when she read the book properly she could find references to words and other topics quickly.

Occasionally she would stop and read a page thoroughly; the first being in the _Standard Book of Spells (Grade One)_ when she found a few spells related to transfiguration. Rather than finding a whole swathe of spells transfiguring one thing to another she found the spells were concise – for lack of a better word – with nothing defining the exact object being transfigured, rather it was like; metallic object to metallic object, metallic object to organic object, metallic object to inorganic object and everything else in between.

To Athena this was perplexing. She had expected a topic that took up a whole subject line and was taught to seventh year would include a massive amount of memorising of spells. To solve the problem she picked up _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_ and rapidly skimmed to the page that discussed the use of spells.

'_That answerers my question,_' she thought as she quickly read the chapter. Transfiguration wasn't based on rote memorisation of spells for every conceivable transfiguration; rather it was based on a small number of spells that specialised in one particular area of transfiguration based on the material you began with and the material you wanted to transfigure too – the shape of the object was based purely on the willpower and intent of the caster. However it wasn't _that _simple; skimming to the next chapter it began to discuss how you needed to also _understand_ the changes that took place to undertake successful transfiguration. It would seem that those changes were the backbone of transfiguration lessons, something that probably got even more complex when you moved onto transfigurations that included elements of many different materials.

Closing the transfiguration book, Athena returned to the _Standard Book of Spells_ and continued skimming.

o0o0o0o

Having had a late lunch, paid for her room for another night and decided that she needed to stretch her legs Athena chose to go for a stroll down Diagon Alley – only this time she'd actually stop at any shop she wanted and take a look.

To her surprise, Athena found an antique book shop only a third of the way down the Alley – _Gladson's Antique Books and Auctioneers._ She was just about to walk in and take a look around when she stopped herself, deciding that she already had a massive pile of book in her room she hadn't finished yet and didn't need to buy more just right now – if she walked in now they'd probably have to kick her out to get her to leave.

Continuing down the alleyway she found _Sugarplum's Sweets Shop._ Athena may have been very reserved and not into 'sunshine and rainbows' as the front of the store suggested with its bright colours but it didn't mean she didn't like sweets when she could get a hold of them. When was the key word; she had only managed to get some a very small handful of times – the earliest she could remember was getting a lollipop from the optometrist when she got her first – and previous – glasses prescription. Regardless of those more unpleasant times she felt she could indulge herself a little now she had money.

As she reached the end of the Alley while munching on a range of sweets, Athena took a gamble and decided to loop around through Thatching Way and Market Street to arrive back at the Leaky Cauldron.

Thatching way wasn't all that interesting; just a jumble of Victorian style terraced houses – though they were much more interesting than the uniformed neatness of Privet Drive.

Market Street was much better in Athena's opinion; covered in the sights and smells of restaurants and the odd takeaway stall. Making a note to try something down there for a meal some day she walked back to her room in the Leaky Cauldron and continued to read.

o0o0o0o

It was very late by the time Athena put down her many books that night, so late in fact she almost missed the cut-off time for hot meals that required preparation.

Having skimmed both the required Hogwarts booklist and her own purchases after she got back she quickly came to the conclusion that many of her extra books really should have been on the required book list. For starters the required book _Magical Drafts and Potions_ solely covered the ingredients and preparation steps for the potions. It did not cover the steps required to prepare ingredients, it did not cover any safety information and it certainly did not include any potions theory explaining why things happened.

_The Potions Essentials Guide_ which she had picked up in _Flourish and Blotts_ and _The Secrets of Potion Making_ which she had found in the Le-Fay Vault did – though arguably _The Secrets of Potions Making _was a bit light on safety. The lack of such texts could be explained by the potions teacher wishing to explain it themselves but it seemed unwise to not include a hard text on the subject.

Still the topic was fascinating and certainly contributed to Athena staying up so late reading her books; the next being _The Fundamentals of Ritual Magic_ - a book which she had no modern references for.

The book started – and continued for another quarter of its length – with safety measures that consisted of graphic depictions and various explanations of how you could kill yourself using a ritual. Apparently nine times out of ten if a ritual failed it failed spectacularly; if you were really lucky though it would fail by simply failing to start.

After covering the various ways you could die the book moved on to the basics of rituals before moving onto practical steps like the correct location and then moving onto large swathes of very interesting diagrams covered in many symbols – runes to be precise – that didn't make any sense to her. Making a note to pick up some texts on runes and arithmancy she flipped back to the chapter on basics and read it thoroughly.

Reading, rituals could pretty much be described as sacrificial magic. Initial thoughts at the word sacrifice had led to the Aztecs and crazy cultists who sacrificed people; apparently that was partially right – rituals that involved the sacrifice of people did exist. But for the most part many of the rituals described weren't – well – _evil._ According to the book one of the most common sacrifices for the less powerful rituals was your own willingly given blood. The book further discussed the topic of good and evil rituals but clearly conveyed a tone of apathy on the subject.

Athena figured the writer was probably an academic who wished to remain neutral in his – she figured from the name of the author – writing as he discussed some rather unpleasant topics in a tone you might use to discuss the weather over tea.

Having blushed at the very graphic diagrams for tips on the willing sacrifice of virginity and finally closing the text at the disturbing diagrams of various forcibly taken sacrifices she put the book away and got ready for bed; hoping she might break her habit and get a bit of a lie in.

o0o0o0o

"Hello, Tom," greeted Athena half asleep as she was served breakfast the next morning.

She had managed to get some extra sleep that morning but it wasn't much and coupled with her late night she wasn't feeling her best at the early hour.

"Good morning, Ms Potter," replied Tom cheerfully.

Despite having seen him still working the bar the night before just as she was going to bed it seemed the man was still bright and chirpy in the morning – she wondered what his secret was.

"I think I'll have some coffee with my pancakes this morning, Tom," she asked.

Though she had never tried coffee before she had made it; Uncle Vernon drank lots of it while Aunt Petunia insisted on tea. The smell wasn't exactly great but she figured it might be the secret to sleep deprived mornings and figured she could give it a try.

However what Athena got actually smelt nice – she wasn't really sure why – and it went rather well with pancakes. Unfortunately it didn't wake her up nearly as much as she hoped as she retreated to her room to finish skimming through her books; all she had left was _A Muggleborn's Guide to Magic_ – the incredibly condescending book on magical culture, the wordier DADA – which she had already started calling 'Dee-Ay Dee-Ay' – books and _The Arte of Combative Magick _from the vault.

Reading _A Muggleborn's Guide to Magic_ Athena quickly came to the conclusion the book was rubbish; it was written like a book on how to breath. The book never surpassed the level of a kindergartener and talked of things that were the norm in the non-magical world like bathing regularly, being polite and eating with your mouth closed. In fact the book really didn't speak much at all on the topic of magic.

Having decided the book truly was useless and that she'd have to speak to Goldhook about that tutor she moved onto _The Arte of Combative Magick _and started skimming.

The book certainly was interesting but she wasn't sure she really needed to know the perfect spell for breaching the wall of a castle, immolating hordes of people in formation on the battlefield or conducting espionage in the lands of her enemies – at least not yet anyway.

The DADA texts were significantly tamer despite being what she assumed were the most advanced books on the subject available at Flourish and Blotts. Frequently in their pages were the spells described in _The Arte of Combative Magick_ but the book would only describe them, refused to describe how they were cast and simply told the reader their use was illegal with varying fines and lengths of time in jail as punishment.

Having finished skimming all of her books, Athena started reading them more thoroughly – starting with her school texts – for the rest of the day.

o0o0o0o

Athena woke the next morning and got ready – coffee in hand – for another trip to Gringotts. She had been told it would take about three days to get a complete inventory of her vault but it wouldn't be three days until that afternoon so it might not have been done yet.

Still, a trip to Gringotts broke the monotony of solid reading for twelve hours straight. Sure, she loved to read and consume every bit of knowledge she could get a hold of but eventually your brain gets frazzled from too much information and you need a break for a few hours or even a whole day.

Asking a teller to see Goldhook, Athena was directed to wait as Goldhook was in with another client.

"How do you handle having an extra account to manage?" asked Athena as she was finally let into the office and directed to a seat.

"That's what I was just discussing before I let you in," replied Goldhook. "I've pushed my smallest client off to another manager. They agreed quite quickly, seeming to want to get out of my office as soon as possible."

"Really?" she asked. "That seems a bit odd."

"Not really," Goldhook replied. "Most of my clients try to avoid my office as much as possible; it's pretty common across the board. I've probably seen you more times in just the last few days than I've seen most of my other clients in the last year."

"Uh-huh," said Athena as she thought it over before moving on. "So, is the inventory complete?"

"It should be done by now; though not everything has been examined thoroughly for curses yet – everything should be safe by this afternoon though."

o0o0o0o

Surprisingly the rapid cart ride down to the lower levels wasn't as thrilling as it had been the first time – though Goldhook wouldn't have noticed as she never really showed it. It did have an added bonus though; the cool cave air rushing past woke her up better than the coffee.

Entering the surprisingly ordered vault together they found Goldhook's deputy adding the final lines to the large ledger in the middle of the room.

"The ledger is rather simple to use, I just wish we had invented them a thousand years ago rather than a hundred – they really keep the vaults in order," started Goldhook as he turned to the start of the heavy tome. "The ledger is linked to the charms on the vault that tell us its gold balance so on the first page here it lists the current balance along with the number of items broken down into books and everything else."

Taking a look Athena could see it did indeed list a sum of one-hundred and eighty thousand, two-hundred and seventeen galleons, along with over two thousand items and one-thousand two hundred books before Goldhook turned to the next page.

"These are all the entries; they're split into books and 'other' and then sorted alphabetically, and include the date the item was added to the vault if known, value if known, and whether the item is hazardous.

"New entries can be added to the last page and it will be added to the list alphabetically automatically. Items can be removed from the ledger by running a line through the corresponding entry."

"I think I've got that," said Athena as she gave a nod.

Goldhook stood aside and let Athena skim through the ledger; skipping over the book list as she had already read it.

Skimming through the list she found quite a few things like swords, knives and armour were listed. Her initial thought had been to simply sell the lot as they probably were ineffective against magic and woefully ineffective against modern non-magicals. But then she though there may be some historical or heirloom items there that she could probably keep.

"Goldhook," she called out. "I was thinking I could point to things on the list and say it needs to be sold but I think I might need to examine each item individually here – the ledger doesn't give me enough information to make a decision."

"I thought that might be the case," he said gruffly, probably missing the comfort of his office. "Have you decided to ask Gringotts for help selling the items?"

"Maybe," she replied uncertainly. "May I ask you a personal question?"

"You may ask but I may not answer it," he replied.

"How much do you earn per year, on average?"

The goblin raised a single eyebrow at this in curiosity.

"It depends on quite a few things as I have many jobs around the bank that pay based on the work I do rather than the hours I put in and quite a bit of luck," he explained. "On a good year I might make eight thousand galleons, a bad year I may make considerably less."

Athena gave him a few nods as she thought it through.

"How much do you estimate is the stuff down here worth?"

"I believe I initially said two-hundred thousand once you've removed the invaluable items, but now after a more accurate inventory I'd put it in the two-thirty range."

"Alright, Gringotts will sell it and I'll give you… _two_ percent of everything made," she said.

"Two percent?" he sputtered.

"On top of whatever you'd get normally. I doubt I'll sell everything but that's still probably going to be at least three thousand galleons."

"Why?" asked Goldhook as he scrutinised her carefully.

"Think of it as an incentive to get the best price possible for everything," explained Athena. "Even if you only get ten percent more for each item on average I've still made eight percent more."

"You're strangely savvy for a human, let alone a child," he muttered as Athena began to inspect the swords listed in the heavy tome.

o0o0o0o

Though Goldhook was clearly interested in examining the many historical items in the vault he had to leave and work on more important things very quickly so he assigned one of the goblins who had helped inventory the vault help Athena go through each item on the list and decide if she wanted to keep it.

The Goblin, who was named Gambutte, regularly had to explain the purpose of many of the artefacts found in the vault to Athena who found the whole thing to be a great learning experience.

Deciding to cover the swords first, Athena chose to sell nearly all of them; only keeping two whose style and inscriptions suggested they may have belonged to Morgana and thus were family artefacts that she could never sell.

Every dagger and small knife remaining in the vault went too, though nearly half had been moved to the other vault because they were cursed or poisoned and would need to be examined later. This was followed by the half a dozen sets of plate-mail armour that Athena had no use for seeing as they were custom-made for the user and wouldn't protect her from anything magical or non-magical.

The day proceeded in a similar fashion where Athena would mark to sell large chunks of items while keeping a small number that held historical family significance.

"What's this, Gambutte?" she asked as she opened up what looked like a leather roll-up tool pouch.

"Ah," exclaimed the goblin as he fingered a number of the spanner sized objects covered in runes. "This is a set of tools a thief might carry."

"Oh," said Athena. "I guess that's not surprising though if my ancestors were in the process of trying to overthrow the government. How do they work?"

"Well…" he trailed off as he thought about how to explain it to an eleven year old. "Most homes are protected with magical wards that create barriers around one's home. Explaining simply; they pass magic through a person to – usually – cause harm to them and thus stopping their entry. What these taps do is activate the wards before passing the magic through the tap and safely into the ground. This either runs the wards dry so they no longer function or passes so much energy through the tap that the wards burn out."

"Huh, that sounds rather simple," mused Athena.

"It's a lot more complicated than that and there are plenty of countermeasures to them but when it comes to breaking simple wards taps are the easiest and most effective way."

In the end Athena decided to keep the ward taps; mostly because they were rather out-dated and a restricted item meaning they would have to be sold on the black market or through a Ministry approved method.

By five o'clock they had only made it halfway through the items in the vault and called it a day; deciding to come back tomorrow. And then there was the other vault filled with dangerous items – if she wasn't enjoying the learning experience it would be a long few days.

On the way out of the bank Athena dropped in on Goldhook and informed him that after reading the only book on wizarding culture in Flourish and Blotts she would need that tutor they had discussed.

o0o0o0o

Marking which items needed to be sold in the Le-Fay vault took another whole day and before long Athena found herself in the smaller vault that was once part of the twenty-three unclaimed personal vaults she had claimed. Thankfully there was only two-hundred items or so in it that were considered hazardous so it would only take them a few hours to sort out.

A good quarter of the items were what appeared to be vials of poison; each with a tiny faded handwritten label. Gambutte explained to Athena that they would be almost impossible to sell legally and that her only real options were to destroy them, keep them or sell them herself. As she had tonnes of space in the Le-Fay vault Athena chose to keep them.

Another good quarter of the items were the aforementioned daggers and knives. Despite the fact many were poisoned with illegal poisons and that the rest had cursed blades that were enchanted to cause wounds that resisted healing, caused excruciating pain or burned flesh as they cut they were – according to Gambutte – all legal… If they were part of an Ancient or Noble House's collection.

Gambutte recommended not selling them right away; rather in small lots because the market for them was very tiny. Athena wasn't so sure about selling them so they – like the poisons – were marked to be sent back to the main vault.

The other half of the stuff was mostly odds and ends with a few pieces of cursed jewellery mixed in; apparently the jewellery fell under the same laws as the knives. Athena chose to sell the cursed jewellery under the thought that people weren't going to run around throwing the jewellery at people to kill them as opposed to the poisoned and cursed knives.

"So what are they?" asked Athena as she looked at an identical pair of rune-covered black granite cubes.

Taking a closer looked revealed a small hole in the top which seemed to contain a small ball of fire.

"They're Fiend Fire Boxes," stated Gambutte simply.

_'Fiend Fire',_ thought Athena as she remembered where she had heard those words before.

It didn't take her long to realise it had been discussed in _The Arte of Combative Magick_. The author recommended Fiend Fire as a method for disposing of large congregations of troops such as troops in battle formations. According to the author Fiend Fire was a fire that fed on magic; the caster would supply the initial magic to produce and feed the Fiend Fire and then it would subsequently feed on other magical sources like witches and wizards, magical homes saturated in magic and magical artefacts.

"Is that Fiend Fire I can see inside of them?" she asked very cautiously. The book had also mentioned that Fiend Fire was probably one of the most dangerous spells in existence.

"Well, yes," replied the goblin slightly worried; he clearly didn't like being near them.

"Why?" asked Athena with a similar amount of concern.

"Why would anyone make them?" he asked to which Athena nodded vigorously. "It's – well – a weapon; a very effective weapon at that."

"Like a bomb?" suggested Athena to which the goblin nodded. "How does it work?"

"Well, there is a small amount of Fiend Fire trapped at its centre – I assume you know what Fiend Fire does?" he asked to which Athena gave an affirmative. "The black marble surrounding it is enchanted to become saturated in magic. When linked to an appropriate trigger the complicated bit of magic that contains the Fiend Fire at its core fails and the fire immediately starts consuming the enormous amount of magic contained in the marble. The marble then breaks down from the heat – dumping more magic into the fire - and the whole thing explodes."

"Oh," said Athena as she took a step back – what was described sounded significantly worse than she initially thought. "I take it this was designed to overcome the small problem of Fiend Fire killing the caster?"

"Oh yes," said the goblin, his face suddenly turning to glee at the thought of Fiend Fire killing its users.

"I guess this is another item I can't actually sell."

* * *

**I'd like to point you towards '_A Black Comedy_' for inspiration for the Fiend Fire Boxes. In A Black Comedy they have 'Gubraithian Fire Boxes' which fulfil a similar function to the FF Boxes. I spent a long time trying to think what there could be when it comes to different 'dark' artefacts and this was the first that came up besides the obvious. In cannon there really isn't much in the way of dark artefacts described.  
**

**I'd like to apologise slightly for the massive amount of information shoved into this chapter - I hope I didn't overload anyone. I never really liked the idea of Transfiguration involving the memorisation of massive blocks of spells for every conceivable transfiguration so I came up with my explanation.**

**On rituals. I know the description is a bit unpleasant but I tried to write it as if the book is a detached description by an academic; discussing morally acceptable and morally unacceptable rituals in the same light.  
**

**I really hate seeing HP fics were Harry ends up becoming a lord so he overnight becomes a snob who practices all these pureblood etiquette things. I really hate that. Other fics include Harry sudden;y becoming some sort of magical king who knows best for everyone and suddenly everyone is kissing his ass and bowing and crap. The whole point of this fic is democracy. Now you might say that the whole Wizengamot is not democratic and you'd be right. But Athena is pragmatic. I haven't gotten to it yet in the story but she will realise she has to use the power she has to see change even if the Wizengamot is unpleasant.**

**I'm half asleep right now so I'll add more to this authors note in the morning. I just wanted to get this chapter out and I apologise if the AN sounds like I'm rambling - it's because I am.  
**

**Please review, follow, favourite and tell me I have spelling errors here and there.**

**AN -1:**

**I want to make it clear that this won't be a superpowered!Harry fic because Athena read her books. That's just silly. No crazy wandless magic here folks.**

**If you look carefully you'll see I've already started sowing the doubts that the magical world isn't the utopia it's sometimes portrayed as.**

* * *

**Sun-Tsu Toriden - Yes this will take a long time. I expect this fic will be at least 600k words. We should be at forth year by the 150k mark though as third year will be rather quick.**

**Vangran - I'm not really sure what you're talking about there with the 'weak-to-god!Harry' fics. I have no clue what that means and I've never seen it used before. I tried Googling it and all I got were sites claiming HP is Satanic.**

**Ina Bauer - It stated explicitly in the description that she's going to be a Slytherin. **


	3. The Magical Magical World

**And Chapter three is here.**

**Yes, I have changed my username. I no longer wanted to write under my real name on the internet.**

**From now on I'm trying to publish one chapter from my stories every two weeks. I hope to get to down to once per week over the next few months. We'll see if that actually happens.**

**Sorry guys but _Unspeakable Employment_ is going on the backburner until I have the drive to keep writing. I do have two other things to take a look at though:**

_**Odd**_** Ends**** - where I post my oneshots, single chapters and story ideas that I will probably never finish. At the moment it contains Harry Potter and a single Pokemon Abilityshipping fic. s/10178892/1/Odd-Ends**

_**The Goal of Masters -**_**A Pokemon fic based on _The Journey of a Master_. Ash finds an injured Mew not far from Pallet Town. Join him as well as a thirteen year old Cynthia and Misty as they travel the Pokemon world and attain their goals. World mechanics are somewhat AU. Please take a look. s/10256017/1/The-Goal-of-Masters**

* * *

**The Venerable House of Le-Fay**

**Chapter Three:**

**The Magical Magical World**

Having read all of her schoolbooks and the books she had removed from her vault Athena started trying out a few of the spells documented in _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade One_. The wand lighting charm – the very first spell Athena attempted – was remarkably easy; probably because it had no wand movement and the background reading was both simple and sparse. The other spells were significantly harder to master; probably because she had no one else there to spot for her and make sure the wand movements were correct.

After several hours of trying out the unlocking charm to work on the door to her room Athena gave up and moved onto the fire-making spell – wisely casting it into the fireplace to avoid burning down the Leaky Cauldron. The fire-making spell was more difficult to cast that a simple _Lumos _– as she had taken to calling the wand-lighting charm – but it wasn't impossible as she was coming to conclude the unlocking charm was; only taking a few hours to have it down pat and spew a significant torrent of flames from the tip of her wand.

o0o0o0o

Goldhook had informed Athena that it would take at least six months to sell everything indicated and that it should net at least net one-hundred and fifteen thousand galleons for the Le-Fay estate. Seeing as the money for investment wouldn't be available for a few more months Gringotts offered to float Athena – or more precisely the House of Le-Fay – a loan of that amount. Given the security of the load they offered a very good interest rate so Athena accepted without too much hesitation; just enough to read the contract through.

Now, she was being led through the maze of Gringotts to a conference room where she could meet her new 'all things magical' tutor – no one really knew what to call these lessons at the moment.

"Athena Potter," introduced the goblin who had tracked down a tutor as she entered the room. "Meet Andromeda Tonks."

The aforementioned woman – a tall woman with light brown hair and a somewhat regal look to her – did her best to hide her shock at the introduction; clearly the goblin tasked with finding her had neglected to mention who the client was.

"Ms Potter," she said with a smile once she had finished processing the news while holding out her hand for a handshake.

Athena returned the handshake before gesturing to the seats provided.

"I must say, I haven't seen you since you were a baby," stated Mrs Tonks.

Athena stilled slightly.

"You knew my parents?" she asked.

"I did," she replied. "I'm the cousin of someone who was a good… _friend_ of theirs. I didn't get to see them after they went into hiding though."

Athena made a note to prod for more information there later but for now she should stick with the lesson at hand.

"So what are we going to be doing then, Mrs Tonks?"

"It's Andi – if your parents called me that then you can too," she said.

"Very well, Andi," replied Athena uncomfortably.

"As for lessons; could you clarify what you're after exactly?" asked Andi.

"I think starting with a crash course in magical life would be a good start; most other magicals my age have ten years on me. I have no idea what magicals do in their spare time, I have no idea what a magical home is like, I have no idea how they are raised and educated."

Only then did Athena realise she was breathing hard, was slightly angry and had said all of that with one breath; being raised outside – no, _with no knowledge_ – of the magical world was more infuriating then she had originally thought.

"We could do that," said Andi as she pondered what precisely they were going to do before writing down some ideas on the parchment placed on the table for note taking.

"I also need some instruction in politics and such for when I take up the Potter seat," she lied smoothly; Mrs Tonks didn't need to know about the Le-Fay seat for now – if ever."

"Hmm," she hummed as she continued writing down ideas. "We should be able to do some of that before September First. But covering politics could take a while so I think we'll have to continue it next year."

Looking up at Athena for confirmation she got a nod and continued jotting down notes.

"I'll need a day to get a plan written out, so why don't we start on Wednesday?" asked Andi.

"I can do that," said Athena in agreement.

"Alright then," said Andi as she looked over her notes again. "I'll send you a letter tonight with what books you need to get."

"I already tried getting some books on politics but couldn't find any," said Athena with a slight frown.

"Did you try in Flourish and Blotts?" she asked to which Athena nodded. "You won't find books on politics in Flourish and Blotts. You'll have to either mail the supplier or ask one of the book traders to get you a copy."

"Like Gladsons?" she asked as she remembered _Gladson's Antique Books and Auctioneers_ in the Alley.

"Yes, he would have it but I'd suggest asking by mail instead of going in and asking; Gladson is a bit of a grump and will dismiss you before you've even gotten a word in."

Athena took note of that with a scowl.

o0o0o0o

Athena received by post owl the next morning_ History of the August Wizengamot, Political Interactions of the Old Houses _and _Political Issues of Britain._ The three books had been considerably more expensive than anything she had purchased in _Flourish and Blots_ and of the three books only _Political Issues of Britain_ was brand new; the others had been second hand. The apparent restricted access to such materials was a gnawing thought in the back of Athena's mind and a question to raise at the start of her 'Wizarding Culture' lessons, as Andromeda Tonks had penned it when she received the books list.

Like many other days so far Athena had spent it reading only leaving her room for a short walk and lunch. Tom had spent her lunch time hovering around with the look of wanting to ask a question; possibly why she was still at the Leaky Cauldron and hadn't done home – thankfully he didn't raise the issue.

The day rolled by and with a good night's sleep Athena was waiting on the steps on Gringotts for her first lesson.

"I think we can work on the political side once you've read the books," said Mrs Tonks once the standard greetings had been exchanged. "So today we can go see some wizarding sights. I must admit I haven't done any of these since before my daughter went to Hogwarts."

Athena responded with a nod before asking.

"So where first?" she asked.

"Powys, Wales," she replied. "Britain's only dragon reserve is there; though it's not very big. They allow tourists to watch the dragons."

"Dragons… right," said Athena in mild disbelief. "I think I discussed this with Goldhook but am I going to encounter a lot of – uh – non-magical myth being true?"

"Hmm, I can't really say," she responded. "I could ask my husband; he was raised muggle so he could give a better understanding. I'm not really sure what muggles consider to be myth and fact."

"Understandable," replied Athena amicably.

"Now, for your first lesson you'll be learning to use a form of magical transportation."

o0o0o0o

Exiting the fireplace in a swirl of green flames and landing flat on her face, Athena was glad her new glasses came with unbreakable charms – '_were they really unbreakable or just break resistant?_' she thought – applied.

Mrs Tonks had initially led Athena to the Leaky Cauldron to use their fireplace but found another in the shop of someone she knew from school once Athena explained that Tom was getting suspicious and already had issues with her leaving without telling him where she was going.

Getting off the ground and brushing the fine white ash off her new clothes Athena looked around and decided that this probably was the pub called '_The Green Dragon_' that the dragon handlers liked to frequent based on the bench to roof painting of a bloody huge looking green dragon and the almost dinosaur like skull at one end of the bar.

To her behind the 'floo' flared green to life again and Mrs Tonks elegantly stepped out.

"Any tips on not falling flat on my face next time?" asked Athena once Mrs Tonks too brushed white ash off her clothing.

"You fall flat on your face because you're pushed out of the floo and your feet aren't moving," she replied with a small smile. "Walk into the floo and don't stop walking."

"Ah," she replied in understanding before gesturing to the bar. "I take it this is the place?"

"Yes, the Green Dragon, named after the Welsh Green which is a species of dragon native to Wales and the only species of dragon at the _Powys Dragon Farm_."

"It's a farm?"

"Yes, it's really the only way to keep a reserve running; sell off some of the dragons for hides and meat to fund the reserve. Dragon hide is incredibly resilient, the meat is a delicacy to the Goblins, the internal organs are used in a number of magical potions and the heartstrings are used in wands."

Athena nodded in understanding remembering that Ollivander had handed her several wands with cores of dragon heartstring which at the time really didn't register.

"So, to the reserve?" asked Mrs Tonks.

o0o0o0o

"How come non-magicals never see them?" Athena asked.

The dragons at the reserve were apparently 'small', yet despite that claim they looked pretty big from Athena's perspective a few hundred metres away. Each of the half-a-dozen dragons at the reserve were green – per the name 'Common Welsh Green' – and about ten metres long.

"Well there aren't any truly wild dragons in the UK any more," replied Mrs Tonks. "These here are the only dragons in the country. They rarely decide to wander with the food available and if they do some of the keepers follow; ready to make any muggles that see them forget."

Athena hid her frown and held her tongue at that as she carefully watched the distant dragons fly about and laze in the sparse British – or maybe more correctly Welsh – sun.

With a few more questions directed at Mrs Tonks and one of the nearby dragon keepers about dragons in general, followed by a reading of the tourist information displayed detailing the varied uses of dragons they headed back to the Green Dragon and a good meal.

o0o0o0o

"So, where next?" asked Athena over lunch at the Green Dragon. The food served at the Green Dragon was typical pub fare; deep fried things and pies.

"Hogsmead," replied Mrs Tonks. "The only entirely magical village in the UK."

"Huh," said Athena simply as she considered the strangeness of it. Wouldn't they want more purely magical towns so they could practice magic freely? "So there are part magical towns?"

"More like towns where there are large concentrations of magical users," she replied. "Godric's Hollow – where your parents lived, Ottery Saint Catchpole, Hollyhead, Upper Flagley and Tinworth being the more major ones – though there are plenty of others."

"Godric's Hollow is where my parents lived?" she confirmed as she vaguely recalled Goldhook mentioning something about property in Godric's Hollow.

"You did too before that night," replied Mrs Tonks sadly.

"Can we – can we visit it?" asked Athena.

Andromeda thought that was the first time see had seen Athena act like someone her own age – a child. Athena – to her at least – always seemed to have a keen eye about her; carefully observing the world, asking her questions clearly and to the point, and generally giving of an air of being much older emotionally than she should be. But with that question she actually looked vulnerable for once.

"We can," she replied. "As early as tomorrow if you want."

Andromeda could see a small glimmer of both hope and sadness in Athena's eyes at that. The girls whole demeanour was something that troubled her; something that needed to be thought on.

o0o0o0o

Athena collapsed on her bed not long after dinner. It hadn't been until she arrived back in her room at the Leaky Cauldron that she had realised she was so tired. Trekking up and down Hogsmead was interesting but it wasn't much different from Diagon Alley – only a bit quieter – so they had taken a stroll into the surrounding hills.

"One of the most amazing sights I ever saw was not long after I got off the train for my first year at Hogwarts," said Mrs Tonks as they took a short rest and surveyed the large valley that contained the distant castle that was Hogwarts, Hogsmead Village and a lot of forest. "I kind of feel like I spoilt it bringing you here."

Athena gave her a quizzical look at that not understanding exactly what she was talking about.

"It will make sense when you get off the train as well," she explained cheerfully.

Arriving back at the Cauldron through magical side they went their separate ways only for Athena to meet the blinding flash of an old fashioned camera after Mrs Tonks departed through the floo.

"Ms Potter!" exclaimed a man who was holding the offending camera. "I heard rumours you had finally decided to renter the magical community. Do you have any comments to make on the matter?"

Athena merely glared at the reporter before – with a quick glance at the bar to make sure Tom wasn't looking – walking out of the pub and into non-magical London; disappearing into the crowds of people who were most likely in search of a nightclub to waste away their summer in.

Aunt Petunia's constant irritating talk from the gossip magazines had firmly ingrained her desire to stay out of the tabloids and having the reporter know she's staying at the Leaky Cauldron won't help that so Athena quickly lost him in the crowd before doubling back and telling Tom she would like to have her meal in her room tonight.

Athena wasn't exactly sure why she was so tired. She hadn't done that much physical exercise today but it did feel like emotional tiredness. With some thought she came to the conclusion that it was emotional tiredness. She _had_ been thinking a lot about a few different things; it had finally hit her that the magical world wasn't the utopia Hagrid had preached – she already knew that but it had finally hit her that she didn't have a true escape from the Dursleys yet – and then there was Godric's Hollow.

The discovery of where her parents – or she – had lived weighed heavily on her thoughts; thoughts of what life would be if they were still alive. Then came the thoughts of how she would perceive the magical world if she had been solely raised in it. The thoughts had gone back and forth all day at every free moment.

o0o0o0o

Mrs Tonks – or 'Andromeda' as Athena was reminded the next morning – informed her that they would start on the Ministry and Politics the next day, but first today was another trip to see another mythical creature; apparently the Loch Ness Monster was a Kelpie – a sort of horse like creature that liven in and near large bodies of water.

The trip wasn't much different from the day before; travel to the location – this time by an uncomfortable if efficient method of transportation called 'apparition', see a magical creature and then go to find an early lunch.

Today's lunch was in a small magical café called _Holly's Cosy_. It wasn't truly catered towards serving meals but it was a nice break from the constant heavy meals served in the Leaky Cauldron and other pubs. And, the joint was cosy while avoiding crampedness.

"I'm going to take a look at those shops," said Athena who had finished her small meal and drunk her coffee before Mrs Tonks'.

"Do you want to company?" she asked.

The shops Athena was referring too were the three – apparently – magical shops they had passed from where they had apperated to Holly's Cosy. Really she just wanted to get out and think; thoughts of impending visit to the home of her parents were at the forefront of her mind.

"No, I'll be fine," replied Athena with a shake of her head.

It was just a short stroll past the apothecary – an apothecary that had nothing on the one in Diagon Alley which made Athena question how it stayed in business with rapid magical transport – and into the magical nick-knacks store that sold odd magical junk and books.

Athena browsed through the store for a while not really paying attention before grabbing a small and ancient book called _Exploiting Hogwarts Rules for Your Benefit_, paying for it and walking out the door.

"Hurry up, Ginny," said the impatient voice of redheaded boy with freckles as Athena exited the shop. "I don't want to babysit you for the errand mum gave you any longer than I have too. I want to get back to my game of Quidditch and away from these muggles as soon as I can."

"You don't have to be here, Ron," replied the girl – Ginny – who looked to be about Athena's age or possibly younger. "I can walk to the shops by myself."

"Yea – well mum said I had to escort you," replied the boy who was now clearly Ginny's brother.

Ginny scoffed.

"Like you could do anything to protect me," she replied dubiously. "And from what?"

"I have a wand! And you never know what might happen with these muggles."

Ginny scoffed again – only noticeably louder.

"Like you could actually do anything with it; you couldn't injure a fly! I saw you trying to practice that ridiculous spell Fred and George gave you on Scabbers."

"It's not ridiculous! Just because you're a dumb girl and don't understand it doesn't mean it's ridiculous."

"Let me guess," said Ginny in response as she raised a single eyebrow in question. "You handed over your pocket money to them for it?"

Even at a distance Athena could see the boy flush red at this revelation and before long he turned around and stormed off the direction he had initially came from. Meanwhile the girl just stood there watching her brother leave out of sight before giving a sigh and relaxing.

"I was under the impression you're supposed to keep magic a secret," said Athena as she decided to reveal herself; having walked up behind the girl as she watched her brother walk off.

The girl gave a small jump before whipping around to face the newcomer.

"Uhh," she replied unsurely.

"I'm already aware," said Athena in reassurance. "You're not going to get in trouble because of me."

Ginny was soon looking around in case anyone else had overheard.

"No one else was in earshot, but in future it would pay to be careful," continued Athena as Ginny reddened in embarrassment.

"Yea," replied Ginny with a sigh.

"So…" started Athena before confirming. "Your brother?"

"Yes," replied Ginny with a scowl. "He's convinced I need to be babysat all the time and that I can't do anything by myself."

Athena understood that, but she didn't actually _know_ it.

"Anyway, once mum's done shouting at him for leaving his 'poor vulnerable little sister' all alone in the big bad muggle world he'll be back having fun playing Quidditch and flying about while I'm suck buying food and doing house work," she continued with a hint of anger.

Athena merely gave Ginny a questioning look at that.

"Well if you want to delay getting back as long as possible you can hang out," suggested Athena. "Hey – uh – are you going to Hogwarts?"

Ginny's face fell slightly at that.

"Not for another year; Ron is going this year though," replied Ginny unhappily. "You?"

"This year," said Athena. Noticing Ginny's unease at that she distracted her. "I know all about broom flying, but what's Quidditch?"

Ginny instantly smiled at that and quickly dropped into a quick explanation of the game; the three Chasers and the Quaffle, the Beaters who protect their team from Bludgers, the Keeper who acts as goalie and the Seeker who ended the game.

"Sounds brutal," said Athena with a chuckle.

Ginny laughed.

"Only if you're not quick enough," she said. "Of course there are players who have the weight to plough through everything and with body-armour can absorb hits from bludgers."

Athena smiled at the description before more carefully asking a question that had been bugging her.

"So you're not allowed to play?"

Ginny's expression hardened at the question.

"No," she replied shortly before softening, not wishing to discourage a newfound friend. "Pretty much all of my brothers' play or have played it – that's all six of my _older_ brothers. Charlie could have gone and played in the British League, while Fred and George are some of the best beaters seen in a long time at Hogwarts. The rest enjoy it as a casual game though Ron keeps saying he'll be playing for the _Cannons_ some day."

Ginny – who was now seated on a low stone wall at the side of the road gave calming breath before continuing.

"Most have no issue with me playing," she continued as he voice became laced with bitterness frustration. "I can't though; either because mum is convinced I can't do anything without my hand being held and that Quidditch 'isn't appropriate' for me to be playing instead coming up with more chores or lessons she singles me out to learn, or – well – Ron."

Ginny gave a sigh and was silent as she considered how to word it.

"Ron's the youngest of six brothers," she said carefully. "We're not exactly… well off. Everything Ron gets is something handed down from our older brothers while I get some new_ish_ things because – well – I'm the only girl in the family and… he resents it – I think."

"Like with having a wand?" asked Athena perceptively.

"Yea," replied Ginny uncomfortably. "Anything that he has that I don't… Well, I think you understand."

Athena nodded.

"Do you have any brothers?" asked Ginny. "Sisters, maybe?"

'_It was a good distraction while it lasted,' _thought Athena.

"No, I'm an orphan," replied Athena with a twinge of sadness.

"Oh – I'm so sorry," said Ginny. "I didn't – "

Athena held up her hand in silence.

"You don't need to apologise," she said with a weak sad smile. "It's not your fault. I don't even remember them anyway."

Ginny just sat there in silence with a sad expression before something caught her attention behind Athena.

"Are you ready to go, Athena?" asked Mrs Tonks. "You were gone longer than I expected so I came looking for you. I did let me read today's Prophet though."

"Yea, I guess," she replied with a glance at Ginny.

"You're Athena Potter?" asked Ginny weakly as she made the connection which Athena cringed slightly at.

"Please, Ginny," said Athena awkwardly. "I don't want the first time I've ever made a friend my own age ruined by you becoming start struck. We had a nice normal conversation and I'd like to be able to do so in the future."

Ginny went red in embarrassment at that; it might have been a harsh statement but Athena was quickly learning fame wasn't her fancy.

"Sorry," she managed to sputter out. "If – uh – you're going I guess I should get on with the shopping I was asked to do."

Athena stifled a dejected sigh as Ginny made to leave.

"Ginny, wait!" she called out causing Ginny to look back. "Would it be ok if I wrote to you?"

It felt completely foreign to Athena to ask that; she had never had anyone to write too before let alone a friend – if this is friendship that is, or so she hoped.

Ginny gave her a nervous smile and nodded before she hurried off in embarrassment.

"That could have gone better," muttered Athena as she finally released her earlier held up dejected sigh.

"I'm sorry about that," said Mrs Tonks.

"It's ok," said Athena as she watched Ginny disappear into a supermarket.

o0o0o0o

It felt strange to Athena to be so tied up by thoughts she had trouble pushing away. Yesterday were thoughts of her parents and the town she and Mrs Tonks were standing in, today thoughts of the girl she had met.

Getting though life at the Dursley's – for her at least – meant being able to ignore many things – constant insults, constant complaints, threats, and _pain_ for example – but something irked her and she couldn't ignore these troubles.

"Do you want to visit the house?" asked Mrs Tonks.

_What_ house needed no description.

"Yes," she replied quietly.

In silence they walked up the street, past the many people out and about enjoying their summer and before long they stood in front of a small cast iron gate flanked by overgrown hedges.

"This is it?" she asked in a whisper to which Mrs Tonks nodded.

Athena stepped up to the gate and gazed at the house. One corner of the house – the upper floor – had been blown away leaving a gaping hole. It was then that she noticed the low sign behind the gate.

_On this spot, on the night of 31 October 1981, Lily and James Potter lost their lives. Their daughter, Athena, remains the only person ever to have survived the Killing Curse. This house, invisible to Muggles, has been left in its ruined state as a monument to the Potters and as a reminder of the violence that tore apart their family._

The sigh was covered in large amounts of graffiti; most of which were singing praises for her in thanks for defeating Voldemort.

"It's all silly, really," said Athena sadly, gaining Mrs Tonks' attention. "Everyone I've met makes it out to have been some valiant action on my part, but I was only a year old; I didn't make a conscious decision to do it."

Andromeda gave a small frown at that. It may have been true but Athena clearly didn't know what it was like.

"Maybe so," she stated carefully. "But you weren't raised in the time. So many people died and no-one knew who was next. Everyone was just relived to see the end of it – despite how it happened – and praise the one who saved them all."

"I'd much rather be known for my own abilities; not accidents," she countered. "I've already seen it in people; they see me as some valiant saviour. They expect the see a perfect role model – a white pure princess. They've all made up their minds about what I am yet none having ever spoken to me or sought me out."

Athena almost spat out the words by the end of tirade.

"All these expectations…"

o0o0o0o

The trip to the graves of Lily and James Potter was a quiet affair. Athena didn't say a word as she read inscription:

_The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death._

It was a cryptic comment; a comment that might make more sense with a search into the family history.

"I think that's enough for today," said Athena as she finally broke the silence, still staring at the graves of her mother and father.

"Very well," replied Mrs Tonk as she gave Athena's shoulder a squeeze causing Athena to give a slight – if noticeable – flinch and a grimace.

"Sorry," she said quietly as Athena walked along the path out of the cemetery.

So many things about Athena Potter were troubling to Andromeda Tonks.

o0o0o0o

Athena just lay on her bed in her room at the Leaky Cauldron that afternoon with more troubled thoughts clouding her mind.

She figured most young girls her age would be in tears at this stage if expectations were anything to go by.

'_Heh,_' she thought in a strange cloud of emotions that lay between sadness and dark humour. '_Everything comes back to their expectations for me. They're going to be in for a rude shock.'_

Athena pondered what exactly the magical public expected of her. A hero was clearly the centre of it but the question was what type of hero they expected? I was almost certain that whatever they expected was wrong. People were undoubtedly going to be… _unhappy_ with whom she actually is.

o0o0o0o

Athena met with Mrs Tonks – who once again reminded her to call her 'Andi' or 'Andromeda' – in one of the meeting rooms of Gringotts. These rooms were somewhat expensive to hire and were usually used for negotiations between houses or business negotiations between companies, but they would make a good room for lessons and the price didn't bother her

It didn't help though that she was very tired – a restless of night of thinking did that to you – and she desired a larger cup of coffee; making a note to track down a thermos or a magical equivalent.

"Goldhook did give me a basic rundown on this," said Athena tiredly as they dove into the lessons. "But there is clearly a lot more."

Mrs Tonks simply gave a single nod as Athena continued talking. She was clearly tired – which wasn't all that surprising considering yesterday's events – but she persevered and kept at the days lesson.

"Ok – so I knew the Minister of Magic is elected, but you're saying that doesn't mean they will stay Minister for long," she recited as Mrs Tonks gave confirming nod. "Two thirds of the Wizengamot is required to call for no confidence and have him dismissed even if ninety percent of the population voted for them."

"Yes," she replied.

"What a mess," muttered as she rubbed her tired eyes.

"It's been this way for a very long time," said Mrs Tonks with a shrug. "It's tradition."

Athena stayed her scoff at that.

'_Doesn't mean squat when it's just plain wrong_,' she thought.

The lesson had started with the structure of the Ministry and the Wizengamot. Later – Mrs Tonks had said – they would cover straight up law before moving into the interactions between houses and blocks like making deals and forging alliances.

Further descriptions of its structure lead to thoughts that the Wizengamot and the Ministry must be a breeding ground for corruption; there didn't appear to be any controls in place, one small group had an enormous amount of power and the whole idea of the Wizengamot judging themselves just didn't sit right.

"Want to continue this tomorrow?" asked Mrs Tonks that afternoon. "It's a Saturday…"

Athena thought for a second there as she counted in her head. It seems that without the comings and goings of her uncle to mark which days were weekends and which were work days she'd lost track of the days.

"I think in future we should take weekends off," suggested Athena. "I'll need a break at some point."

Mrs Tonks looked relieved at that; she too would like breaks.

"Monday then?" she asked optimistically.

"That sounds good."

o0o0o0o

Athena was back in her room once again gazing at the ceiling in thought. Thinking them over didn't give her a new spark of understanding that enabled her to stop being clouded by thoughts and possibilities

She wasn't entirely sure what to do now. She was however probably tired enough to simply fall asleep and get some restful sleep, but that would only be a temporary solution.

An outsider's opinion would help; she figured people would normally talk about problems with other people – she didn't really have anyone to do that with. There was Mrs Tonks but she didn't really feel comfortable with asking her at this point.

There was also the girl she had met yesterday; Ginny. But why would she listen? She wasn't a friend, was she?

'_Oh get a grip,'_ thought Athena to herself. '_You don't even know what a friend is!'_

It wasn't self-deprecation, just a fact. She really didn't know what a friend was.

Athena gave herself dry laugh and thought of how much of a social retard she was before getting off the bed and beginning to pace back and forth.

'_Just write the damn letter,'_ she thought. '_It might not solve your problem right now but it is a start, will help in the long run and there is nothing to lose from it.'_

Gaining the resolve to write to her… _friend_ she sat down at the small desk in the room and tried to write; a difficult task indeed with a quill.

"Fucking useless," she muttered as she inspected the writing. She had finally got a message that seemed right but it was hidden behind awful penmanship; giving her the task of copying it over to another sheet of parchment carefully so it could actually be read.

_Ginny,_

_How are you?_

_I'm ok myself. I've been spending a lot of time getting acquainted with the magical world; there are a lot of things to learn that I feel I need to catch up on._

_What have you been up to? When I said I'm trying to catch up I mean I'm really interested in hearing anything about the magical world if you're ok with telling me._

_I can make lots of free time if you're interested in catching up._

_Athena._

Reading over what she wrote, her only worry was that it was too forward, or that there is some strange wizarding protocol for sending people letters meaning everything she said was offensive somehow.

'_Do I really want a friend who's that stuffy though?' _she thought._ 'If they get offended by it then I guess I don't want to be friends with them anyway.'_

"Can you deliver this with only a first name and a town?" she asked her snowy white owl.

Hedwig – as she had named the intelligent owl – actually looked offended at that before sticking out a leg to accept the letter before flying out the window.

'_It's a start,'_ thought Athena as she collapsed onto the bad, skipped dinner and did her best to get some sleep.

o0o0o0o

Sleep that night was slightly more peaceful that night than the night before, though the morning brought a strange anxiety about the letter.

It was ridiculous – she knew it – but that didn't quell thoughts of a _friend_. The word still felt weird.

Deciding to read for the day, Athena grabbed a book from the pile gathered on the desk and decided to get a few chapters in before breakfast was served. Except the book didn't squash thoughts like usual probably because she had already read all of her books. So Athena made a note to return most of the books she had to the vault and grab a few news ones after breakfast.

One of the many gobbling attendants led Athena down to the Le-Fay vault where she returned many of the books she had taken before retrieving some more; mostly on topics mentioned in the other books that she felt the need to do some background reading on.

Athena then proceeded to read for the rest of the day, starting with '_An introduction to Arithmancy_' and before long she was eating dinner in a back corner of the Cauldron with no reply.

To an unusual sadness there wasn't a letter the next morning as Athena resumed her usual reading along with some practicing of spells. However, as lunch rolled around there was some pecking at the window as Hedwig wanted to be let in.

It was a strange feeling to receive a letter. Her last – or more correctly few hundred last – she hadn't been able to open until it was hand delivered. A Hogwarts letter with its formal tone and standard layout really wasn't comparable to a personal letter from someone.

Nervously Athena broke the wax seal that seemed standard on magical-world letters and read.

_Athena,_

_I'm good; it's nice to get a letter._

_I haven't been up to much interesting; mostly I've been wandering my family's orchards when I have free time – I'm still not allowed to ride a broom._

_What do you want to know? I'm not sure what to tell you really about wizarding life._

_I wouldn't mind do something together but it will be difficult to organise; we'll see._

_Ginny._

To her own surprise Athena let out a sigh of relief at the letter; Ginny actually wanted her to write back – at least it looked that way, though the comment about meeting up seemed troublesome.

'_Maybe I was too presumptuous?'_ she thought. '_Or on the other hand maybe she's concerned about how her family would react?'_

It could be either way Athena decided, though she was inclined towards the latter from what she had heard Ginny discussing about _some_ family members, though she was clearly biased – and she knew it – in that respect.

Grabbing a piece of parchment Athena began to write a response. She wanted to ask more about Ginny's conflicts with her mother and Ron but even she knew despite how social retarded she believed she was that it was way too forward to ask at this time. Instead she suggested Ginny tell her about family such as what they do for a living or the things they enjoy. Athena assumed that Ginny would insert things about herself too.

Hedwig took the offered letter and seemed glad to have a delivery that was more than just to a shop down in Diagon Alley.

o0o0o0o

"I was hoping I could ask you a few questions," said Mrs Tonks as they finished up their lessons for Monday.

At that request Athena carefully scrutinised her. The request had been levelled very cautiously; in almost the same tone she used for some questions.

"That depends on the question," replied Athena coolly.

Andromeda knew it wasn't her place to be asking questions like this or probing into Athena's life like this but many things about her were concerning and she did at least owe it to Lily and James to get to the bottom of it.

Athena was unusually small for her age – James and Lilly had both been slightly above average height for their genders, she flinched at a touch, was incredibly reserved and was disturbingly perceptive for an eleven year old. Emotionally Athena reminded her of herself at that age in many ways – down to being an avid reader which she herself had used as an escape from her family; something that is common in pureblood children raised by strict and harsh families.

"What is your home life like?"

Athena twitched slightly at the question as she quickly covered her emotions; an act noticed by Andromeda.

This wasn't something she had been intending to discuss with anyone anytime soon and right now it seemed like a moot issue as she intended to never set foot in Number Four, Privet Drive again. However the suddenness of the question necessitated quick thinking and really didn't give much room to plan.

"I don't have one," she replied – it was technically the truth right now. "I'm living in the Cauldron right now."

It took a few seconds for Athena to realise that _really_ wasn't the best response to give. It was full of holes and could technically be seen as an admission of what Mrs Tonks was probably implying.

"You know it doesn't work that way, Athena," said Mrs Tonks with a sigh.

'_Maybe so,' _she thought in response. From the sounds of it she would be spending at least nine months – possibly ten – a year at Hogwarts. The remaining two or three months she thought could be spent in hotels somewhere; possibly moving every few weeks so not to arouse suspicion at why a young girl was by herself. Money really wasn't an object in that matter.

"I'm not some vagrant who lacks a means to support myself," replied Athena with a bit more coldness than she had intended. "There's no reason anyone who cares will notice that I spend my holidays living in a hotel."

"Are you really sure of that?" asked Mrs Tonks incredibly to which Athena didn't respond. "Let me rephrase it then; what was your home life like _before_ you moved into the Leaky Cauldron?"

Athena scowled. Mrs Tonks clearly had some ideas about what the Dursleys were like and they were probably reasonably accurate.

Vernon Dursley wasn't stupid despite what many people chose to believe. In reality he was simply very closed minded, xenophobic, intolerant, spiteful and hateful, but never actually dumb. He had been stupid he would have been in jail by the time Athena had reached primary school – though the possibility that he would be in jail earlier because she was dead also existed.

Because he wasn't stupid Vernon Dursley _knew_ what sort of things would get him arrested and what wouldn't – not that they weren't illegal just that they were easy to hide.

If Athena was ever hit they would be limited to areas that would always be covered by clothing. Objects that could possibly leave scars were out of the question – Vernon Dursley _really_ did not want his actions to come back and bite him a decade or more down the line, and his fists worked perfectly fine and a meat softener anyway. He also knew not to go overboard – doctors were after all trained to recognise abuse – though he occasionally would do so but it was never frequent enough for doctors to make the connection from her hospital record.

Her very low weight and small frame could easily be ignored with comments of 'her parents were rather small' and 'she's such a fussy eater, you know how children are'.

Petunia Dursley displayed apathy at Athena; only interacting with her when she wanted something done. Dudley was a blossoming thug; just like his father. But thankfully most of the locations that Dudley would encounter her were easily escapable at a run.

"Why is it any of your business?" asked Athena coldly not betraying any thoughts or feeling on the matter on the surface.

Andromeda ignored Athena's unpleasant vibe and countered.

"Your parents were friends of mine," she said. "I owe it to them to at least check up on their daughter's welfare."

Athena snorted at that.

"Why now? Why not five years ago? Why do you only care how I was treated now?" asked Athena through clenched teeth as she stood up from her chair.

That comment hurt and Andromeda didn't have an excuse for it.

"While I don't particularly like Dumbledore I did assume he would at least make sure you were in a safe home," said Mrs Tonks as she refused to look at Athena. "I should have at least checked up on you anyway – as one of your parent's friends. I don't have an excuse."

Athena took a few deep breaths as she brought herself under control; her emotions having betrayed her slightly, before collapsing on her chair again with a small 'thump'.

Andromeda gave a swallow before asking quietly.

"How bad was it?"

"Bad."

* * *

**I hope you guys can discern why I switch between the names 'Mrs Tonks' and 'Andromeda' so often.  
**

**I hope Athena's and Ginny's meeting didn't feel too forced. I rewrote it a few times because I wasn't happy with it. I also hope I didn't overdo the abuse thing. So many fics have Harry receiving ridiculous levels of abuse from Vernon that would have been noticed.  
**

**Was I too heavy handed with the social retardation?**

**I also promise to have Athena on the station platform by the end of the next chapter - I suspect people want to get to Hogwarts soon.**

**Letters to Ginny will feature at least once in each chapter until Athena's first summer holidays.**

* * *

**On to my complaints:**

**-Why do so many people write Ginny as a miniature Molly Weasley? Nothing in canon suggests she is anything like her mother. She's a bit of a tomboy, she like Quidditch and flying, nothing says she wants to 'play housewife' like Molly, she has a job, she doesn't have seven kids etc.  
**

**-Ginny wasn't allowed to fly a broom. Why? I was never clear to me why. **

**I get the impression that the age the boys were allowed to learn to fly was earlier than when Ginny made the decision to sneak out and learn to fly at seven. It's not know to her family until she is fourteen that she is a very good flyer. Now we could pin the blame on her brothers saying they don't want her playing with them but that doesn't stop her from just flying and proving she's a good flyer, doesn't explain the extreme secrecy, and - at least in my family - if I excluded my younger sibling from activities my parents would force me to include him so why didn't that happen here?**

**I honestly can only see the answer being her parents and of them it's most likely the most controlling parent; Molly. This ties in with my belief that Molly is very conservative and old fashioned. She had seven children (not that that is proof but it is common in conservative families), never work despite the fact that all of her children were either at Hogwarts or moved out, incredibly opinionated on what other children - not her own - should be doing and how they should act. I'm not going to lie; I really don't like her, and if this is true I suspect Ginny resents her mother slightly - or a lot.**

* * *

**I answer some questions:**

**[Name removed by request] - My ANs aren't intended to bump up my word count. I simply have things I want to say (read complain about) and I also like to try and pre-emptively answer questions.**

**Shinkicker - the key word is 'average'. She's not the average eleven year old. She's supposed to be smarter than canon and her experiences have made her somewhat cautious when it comes to the negatives sides of people. As for 'a family or terrorists' she's a pragmatist. She's not going to pass up the power, money and knowledge that comes from it because they may or may not have (history is written by a highly biased and corrupt Ministry after all) been true.**

**Anyway, she still has a lot of growth. In this chapters you saw she's completely socially retarded when it comes to making friends and such so she's not perfect. She had other flaws to. Talking business and being direct she can do. Figuring out 'friends' is much harder.**

**Riceb0x**** - Well we don't really see much of the goblins in canon so I'm going to make an educated guess here and say if you're polite to them and are filthy rich they'll treat you amicably - it's just bad business if you scare away every single customer. Goldhook probably also has a soft spot for her with her craftiness.**

**Alexfr36**** - 'It's me or Ron is a little... mugglephobic ?' Well yes. He's a dumb eleven year old who spends lots of his time reading 'Malvin the Mad Muggle' and possesses an amazing amount of ignorance for non-magical culture.**

**Spartan-G257 - No, she's not Athena reincarnated or something. It's just author illusion with a name.**

**Please leave a review, favourite and follow.**


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